Stages of Acceptance
by Nadz Libinski
Summary: Ever since he could remember, Naruto considered homosexuality as a sin. So what to do when he found himself having a one night stand with man that he might actually like? Go through the stages of grief, well, acceptance. Completely revised version an older story under the same name. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else in this story that has a patent. Please don't sue. I am just a debt-ridden college student who won't have enough money to pay off a lawsuit for another ten years. This disclaimer counts for the entire story. **

**Author's note: One day during winter break, I decided to reread Stages of Acceptance because I wasn't the type of read my stories for leisure- I just write and posted. Anyway, while I was reading, I was absolutely horrified by the large amounts of spelling and grammer mistakes in the story. Therefore, I decided to completely revamp, rewrite and re-edit the entire thing.**

**There are some changes from the original, but they aren't drastic enough to be an entirely new story. I cut a lot of unnecessary things out, and combined multiple chapters. This story is unbeta'd so if there are any glaring errors that I should fix, please let me know :D**

**My plan is to update a several chapters (or more if I'm up to it) for the next two days. Please feel free to leave me your comments. **

**CHAPTER ONE **

It was a little after eleven when I found myself in the middle of the most notorious club in Salt Lake City. I was standing at the bar, right next to the enormous dance floor. I was too scared to walk into it; there was a good chance that I would get crushed by the partygoers.

The DJ's music mix suddenly became louder and now obscene music could be heard from all corners of the club. It was so loud that the drinking-glasses on the bar vibrated to every beat.

The increase in volume sure excited the crowd. More people ran to the already packed dance floor and began turning to the fast-paced songs. The temperature rose considerably and the dancers' bodies became covered in perspiration, their skin glistening in the little light that was present. The floor was so swarmed with dancers that there was barely breathing space between people who were air-humping each other.

Then, the song changed into something that should not be socially accepted (at least in some small towns) causing even more people to pile onto the dance floor and grind against each other as if they were in the process of baby-making.

I started to bang my head onto the nearest wall, but stopped as some of the clubbers gave me bizarre looks. It wasn't my fault. I should have known that from the very second I had stepped inside I should stop moping about Sakura cheating on me and get hell out of here.

Except of course I didn't have a way to get back home until tomorrow morning.

I let out a sigh, rubbing my now bruised forehead while I attempted to move my way through the crowd.

What in God's name was I doing here?"

Oh _right_.

It was because of my soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. She thought that it was a splendid idea to sleep with my soon-to-be ex friend, Rock Lee, in her- our- apartment. The best part of this entire ideal was that upon discovering them, she tried to convince me that she thought that she was _screwing_ me.

This was funny since Rock Lee and I looked nothing alike.

Anyway, after all of the Jerry Springer-worthy drama that had almost resulted in the cops being called because I tried to strangle Lee, I planned to do what any normal guy in my situation would do: find a bar, get drunk, and prove to everyone how much of a lovesick, pathetic man I was.

Oh my parents would be so proud.

I had to squeeze between even more people to get to the other side of the bar (I needed to get away from the make out session that commenced next to me) and grimaced slightly at the partygoers, reminding myself to calm down and accept that the fact that people here had no sense of morals. They didn't care if they constantly pushed me into other people, and they certainly did not care that I was about to puke on them.

Thank the Lord that I, Naruto Uzimaki, wasn't one of the people on the dance floor, looking like a complete drunken idiot. My family would have a heart attack and the Hyuugas would have a field day.

(The Hyuugas were my family's biggest rivals, and had been for over nine decades. They vowed to kick my family out of the congregation elite, even my father, who was a pastor of the local church. No one really knew why the Hyuugas were after us, and the family refused to tell anyone their motives).

But too bad for the Hyuugas. Unlike most of the people in this club, I had no desire to get high, get drunk (enough to do something I would later regret, anyway), or get laid. Why? Because good Christian men weren't supposed to do any of these things and I would have a first class ticket to the guillotine if my parents found out where I was.

I was aware that I was an adult and most people my age didn't tell their parents where they went every second of their life, but my parents made sure that they knew where I was, what I was going, who was I seeing and when I was coming back and I didn't even live with them.

Except for tonight. I told them a little white lie and said that I was studying at the seminary until five this morning.

Oh, what was I thinking? Lying when _I_ didn't even want to be here. I didn't belong in a club. I was never exposed to partying and clubbing, or anything else young people liked to do these days, so how could I enjoy it?

The music became even louder as I made my way to the bar, trying and failing not to bump into people. I couldn't help it; it was too crowded. I was positive it was a fire hazard to have this many people in one area. Almost every square inch was occupied by a body.

The bar inhabitants were shouting and obnoxiously calling for their desired drinks. There were some guys, mostly likely in college, playing some cheesy drinking game at the right end of the bar, with women flocking towards them like flies. And, for some reason that I still would never understand; all the guys were highly amused by this.

I sat down on one of the stools before ordering, "Can I get Miller Light?"

That was the name of a beer, right? I thought it was because I saw it on a commercial once. I did not know how beer tasted. I had never drank alcohol in my life (the congregation frowned down upon it) but apparently, it was a cool thing to do while in clubs.

I tried and failed to act cool but acting this way was never my specialty, especially when people who could easily beat me up into a bloody pulp surrounded me.

Yes, I was unofficially a weak, pathetic, lovesick man who did not know what on Earth he was doing.

People cheered loudly when the DJ changed to another song.

"That beer is for those who couldn't afford anything decent."

I glanced to my left, and groaned. Why couldn't I be left alone? I was in my sulking, post-cheated- on mode. I needed to be by myself, not bothered by someone who thought my choice of beer was cheap.

I didn't respond and I was going to ignore him, assuming it was a _him_, you couldn't be completely sure these days. This should not be hard since the music was so darn loud. My Lord, didn't people here know how much damage loud, ear-bursting music cause to their ears? They were going to be deaf by the time they reached forty.

"What do you want?" The bartender frowning like he was in a bad mood, asked in a rough voice.

The person, who I could now confirm was a man, leaned to the bar. He was taller me by a couple of inches. Noticing that his jet black hair strangely contrasted with his pale skin, I also discovered his black eyes. He was muscular but did not resemble a body builder. Actually, he looked like someone who starred in those movies that the perverts watched, especially by the way he dressed. Not that I exactly knew what those types of guys in those movies really looked like (good Christian men were not supposed to watch those things). He wore a leather jacket, which didn't really surprise me, with a black shirt that depicted a shattered kill, the word "Metallica" written all over it.

And he, to my disgust, had a lip ring.

I cringed. I hated when people had piercing in the oddest places.

Anyway, the man-whore look-alike responded, staring at me as if I was a three-course meal and he hadn't eaten in days. "Bourbon, please. On the rocks."

I might be the most educated when it came to alcohol, but he didn't look like someone who would take whatever he was taking.

Not the point.

I bet he was one of those creepy head-bangers that everyone in my hometown was scared of. I could only imagine my parents' faces if they ever laid eyes on him, although would never happen since my folks would not be caught dead in place like this.

For now on I was going to call him the 'man-whore look-alike' in my head. I was aware that it was a rather derogatory name, but he sure looked like one. The name suited him perfectly. I was not going to ask him what his real name was. I didn't want to sound like I was remotely fascinated in him.

Good Christian men whose fathers were priests were not interested in people like him.

Okay, maybe I wouldn't call him a "man whore look alike" because if it slipped out of my mind he would probably kill me.

I caught the beer that the bartender slid to me and opened it, trying not to pay too much attention to the person who was standing next to me, just a bit too close for comfort. I could feel his eyes staring at me, and I did not appreciate this one bit. Staring made me nervous, and making me nervous was never a good idea.

I caught the beer that the bartender slid to me and opened it, trying not to pay too much attention to the person who was standing next to me, just a bit too close for comfort. I could feel his eyes staring at me, and I did not appreciate this one bit. Staring made me nervous, and making me nervous was never a good idea.

"Do you want anything?" The man asked, moving even closer to me.

"Hunh?"

"I said: do you want anything?"

"No," I replied with great annoyance, hoping he would get a clue, and get out of my personal space.

But of course, he decided to remain in his place.

Did God hate me or something? Was he so mad that I had lied to my parents that he was punishing me by letting someone harass me?

Instead of fleeing, the man just chuckled and grabbed his beer from the bar. He smirked at me. "You look like you need something."

I just stared at him; I didn't know what else to do.

It was time to leave this place, but there was something about him that made me want to stay. What it was, I had no idea, but I hoped that I would find out sooner than later.

"So what happened?"

I blinked. I couldn't be _that_ obvious. "What makes you think something's happened?"

He shrugged before gulping down the rest of his beer. It was truly a sickening sight; how could people do that and not gag? However, I kept my mouth shut and wisely chose to ignore the gesture. He could easily deflate me.

The man noticed that I was staring at him, in my defense that was something one couldn't simply look away from, and whispered into my ear as he moved even closer. "You seem uncomfortable."

Really, I wonder why? This man had no sense of personal space.

I drank more of my beer, and said. "I normally don't come to clubs, and I don't like when people stare at me for no reason."

He innocently looked around. "Who's staring at you?"

I rolled my eyes.

This guy must be delusional.

The man smirked and finally down his beer. I was shocked there was any beer left in the bottle; I thought he drank the whole thing. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"Where are you from?"

I shouldn't be answering this. I didn't know him; I didn't want to know him, actually, I wanted him to get out of my face, but I could feel a buzz from the beer and some connections between my brain and mouth broke down.

"You wouldn't be able to find it on a map," I grumbled. "It's small. The church is the center of all activity."

"Oh, so you're a church boy?"

What was that supposed to mean?

"Is there a problem with that?"

He laughed, well kind of. It was the type of laugh those cartoon villains made when they were about to create some major chaos. "Absolutely, but you don't seem like a person who would come here."

"Religious people are raised not to try to do anything that would be considered a sin."

"Ah, yes. Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

I frowned and glared at him. I did not like that tone of his. Not one bit. That bastard was mocking me. I could not believe it; I was getting mocked by someone who looked like he just came right out of one of those movies Jiraiya liked to watch.

Since when did 'we' get into the equation?"

And what was up with this song? What sane person would create a song about a girl moving like a cyclone? A cyclone was pretty much like a hurricane, but worse. What was wrong with musicians today?

The man chuckled as he grabbed yet another shot. He scanned me up and down, occasionally licking his lips. "Beautiful…"

He was hitting on me. Great, just terrific. If it wasn't for the fact that alcohol was starting to cloud my mind, I would have had a major freak out.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Can you please leave now?"

The black-haired guy gave me an expression of surprise. He frowned deeply and I was starting to get petrified. Oh Lord, he was going to kill me. I was going to die in a club because of my big mouth.

I didn't want to die in a club!

Much to my surprise, the man did not try to kill me but instead shrugged and left my side abruptly, running into a group of women who were lingering around the end of the bar. He seemed suddenly uncomfortable, but that expression soon faded as more and more women crowded around him, flashing their eager grins. He removed his leather jacket, causing the ladies come onto him more than before.

Conceited bastard.

But I could understand why he was conceited. I had to admit; he was attractive- not that it mattered since I was not gay. Being gay was definitely not accepted where I was from.

I looked back at him with disgust. I became even more annoyed when some girl, who looked like one of those Oompas Loompas from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory except with huge fake breasts and terribly dyed platinum hair, latched herself onto him.

It was true. Only men like him would show off just to get girls. I could feel his eyes boring into me. I did not care. He was no longer of any interest to me. He could go to hell for all I care. Heck, why should I care? I didn't even know him.

I hated people like him –those who had a pleasure of showing off as if they were a god. I hated men who were a tease. I hated men who looked like they would take advantage of a good thing and that was why I hated him. I knew I was often told that hate is a strong word to use, and it was only reserved for the Devil. But I didn't care. I hated his guts with a passion.

I wasn't attracted to any men. I was one hundred percent straight, women-loving guy. So what if I was staring at how defined his biceps were.

It didn't mean anything.

I turned my attention from the man and ordered another beer. This time, I made sure that I ordered a more expensive drink- I did not want any guys bothering me about how cheap my drink was.

I checked my pockets and frowned when I realized that I was pretty low on cash.

Okay, beer it was.

I was never a fan of beer- it smelled terrible and it tasted vile, but I guessed it seemed more 'manly' to drink it than a martini. I didn't know why but it was. I stared at the green clear bottle in front of me before paying the bartender. What was about this type of beer that made it so great? I had no idea. I looked at the other party-goers standing near the bar and everyone had a beer or some sort. Maybe they knew something that I didn't. I was only planning to get drunk to forget about my ex and prevent myself from doing anything stupid.

See? Who needed to see a therapist they had beer?

I slowly removed the cap before glancing at the man who had been talking to me with annoyance. I scowled; he was flirting with those girls again. I told myself not to pay attention to him and focus on forgetting Sakura but before I could do anything, our eyes met.

Great, he caught me.

He winked at me in an odd manner and brushed some of his new fan girls off. I stopped looking at him and tried to return my attention to the beer. I could feel the man whore look a like's presence coming from behind.

He wrapped his arms around me, trying to making sure that I was not able to get out of his grasp, and breathed in my ear. "Has anyone told you that you have the most beautiful blue eyes?"

I blushed.

This was definitely going my list of the top most bizarre moments in my life, right receiving a sexual offer from a woman who was old enough to be my grandmother.

"Thank you," I replied, sounding grateful because it was the polite thing to do. "But if you don't mind, I would like to sulk alone. By myself. Without anyone near me."

He seemed to be unfazed by my rude remark and let out a small chuckle. I didn't find anything funny and, from the way I was glaring at him, he shouldn't either. Maybe it was from the drinking?

I actually felt a little warm at his comment on my eyes, though; no one had ever said something like that to me. Not that I was going to tell him. I refused to be seduced by someone like him. I refused.

I didn't know what I was doing or where I was going but the next thing I knew, I was pushed onto the jam-packed dance floor and put in a bone-crushing bear hug by some muscular person. I looked up and frowned; it was that bastard. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? Weren't there other people he could molest?

Oh no, I couldn't do this. I didn't dance, especially when I was getting pushed around by everyone.

"Calm down and dance."

"I don't dance," I snapped back, trying to get out of his grasp. It was to no avail; he was too strong.

The bastard laughed sadistically as he let go of me but right when I thought I was free from this crazed man, he grabbed me again and turned me around. "Just dance. You need to loosen up. It will do you some good."

"Thanks for the news-flash."

He was about to respond when two scantily clad women came right up and pleaded him for a dance. Being the "gentleman" he was, the bastard complied and left me alone. Not that I care or anything. He was just a bastard who had a habit of stalking me.

I watched dumbly as the man danced with the women. I watched dumbly as the trio grinded into each other as the song, apparently named 'Get Low' played. I watched dumbly even as some person grabbed my hand and asked to dance with her. I didn't know why I was staring at them, but seeing them dancing the way they were was turning me on.

Oh no.

Crap.

Good Christian men didn't get turned on by watching people pretend to have sex with each other. Oh, I was definitely going to Hell because of this.

I chose to tear my gaze away from the trio, for my own sanity, and look for another dance partner. I refused to be standing in a middle of the dance floor looking like an idiot. And anyway, I was here to get my mind off of Sakura; I needed to find a distraction. I walked up to an attractive woman, perhaps around my age, chugging down some drink, and asked her to dance with me. I was more than surprised when she said yes; I didn't think guys like me could get dance partners.

She smiled at me seductively as she led me back to where the man whore look alike and his two 'friends' were dancing. I didn't pay attention to the woman dancing in front of me. My attention was set on the man next to me and his groupies. I blushed deeply when he caught me staring at him for the umpteenth time tonight.

Okay, I needed to focus. I looked down at her while she was grinding on me. Was this the new form of dance that I didn't know about? Man, this was getting insane...but I guessed I would let her do what she wanted with me. Anything would be fine as long as I stay far away from him.

Speaking of the Devil, the bastard whispered something to all of this attached ladies one by one and smirked before maneuvering past the moving bodies towards my direction. I didn't know what he was doing but I had the sudden urge to get away fast, but of course, my prayers were never answer. And before I could plan my escape he grabbed my arm and led me out of the club.

It wasn't like I could fight back. Being physically fit was never my specialty and I couldn't crush him with my body; I was too damn skinny. I knew I should have taken up football when I had a chance. But no, I was too busy being forced to babysit my sister's five hundred kids.

Things like this only happened to people like me.

"You want to forget about something, right?" The bastard asked as he grazed his fingers slowly along my arm and then lowly purred into my ear.

Why was some guy purring in my ear?

I wasn't going to answer him. Not like this. I had no intentions on telling him my life story and how pathetic I was. I shifted away trying my best to ignore the stare from the man whore look alike. But was all in vain for the man grabbed my hand and led us to his car. His very nice car.

His very, very nice Mustang car.

Oh, and it had a really nice paint job and nice rims... and, oh was that-?

Wait, hold the phone. I shouldn't be musing about how amazing his Mustang was! I should be freaking out big time.

I didn't run away. I couldn't run away. The man whore look alike would not let me go. He was leading me to his car and I really did not want to follow him.

I prayed that he wouldn't dump me in a ditch while I died a slow and painful death.

Ten long, horrible and painful and disturbing, and any other gory adjective that I couldn't think of, minutes later, the man- whore- look- alike and I were in his Mustang, where I decided that this was by far the most awkward day in my life.

But what choice did I have? I had only come by train and the last one had left about three hours ago.

We were in his car, which was really small, sitting in silence. There was not much we could have talked about anyway; we had only met each other less than a half an hour ago, but I still wanted to say something, anything, to break this uncomfortable silence.

I should not be here. Why was I here? I didn't know. Hell, I didn't know what was going on since I drank that damn beer. I bet he put some drugs in it. That was only other acceptable conclusion. I didn't know what the hell was wrong with me, but every second I spend right next to him, I felt like I just wanted to…rape him. Oh damn, I sounded like a horny dog. It was the drugs' fault!

The man beside me turned on his car then turned it right off again. I was getting nervous, too nervous for my own health. It was not the type of nervousness that I get when I felt like I was about to get kill, it was an exhilarating nervousness. Made sense? It probably didn't. Most of the things that came out of my own mouth did not make sense.

"So…" He took a deep breath and turned on the car's engine before turning to me with a look in his eyes that would make all perverts proud, "Your place or mine?"

"Well, um…"

Wait.

_What?_


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"You did _what?"_

I cringed as I tried to save what was left my eardrums from bleeding. My poor ears, they would never be the same. If I had to wear a hearing aid, _she_ was paying the bill.

Fine, I would admit it that I probably deserved to lose my hearing. I had committed one of the biggest mistakes in my life, but it wasn't my fault. I wasn't supposed to happen this way, it _shouldn't_ have happened this way.

I had alot of drinks last night. How on earth was I supposed to know what I was having a one night stand with a man?

Oh my Lord, I had sex with a _man_.

Although I insisted that I had _nothing_ to do with last night, I being the good man I was, decided to confess my sins as soon as possible. No, I didn't go to one of the elder priests at my church; that would be suicidal. He would know my voice and although he was not supposed to reveal anything that was said during a confession, he would not hesitate to tell my parents.

And that would be the end of me.

"Ino, I didn't mean to do it. I swear!"

"Are you sure? Because your face has a certain glow, something I have never seen before. Oh wait, is that just the sun?"

I didn't appreciate that she was implying. At _all_.

Everyone meet Ino Yamanaka, my therapist and unfortunately, very good friend. I had been seeing her since I had graduated from high school because having breakdowns and not having a therapist to go to was simply unheard of. She was a great person to hang out with when she was in a good mood. The only reason why my parents let me see her was because apparently, she knew all of the morals of the Bible.

Of course Ino had failed to mention to them that she was secretly an in-the-closet homosexual fan girl. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Ino thought that gay men were hot and was convinced that her main goal in life was to create gay couples.

And people thought that I had problems.

"Naruto, did last night's activities result in an epiphany? Is there a change in your sexual orientation? Now remember, I am your therapist and I am obliged not to tell anyone about our conversations. Please be honest.'

"Ino, I am not a homosexual."

Ino, who seemed not to understand what I just said, raised an eyebrow and looked at me suspiciously. I had a feeling that she didn't believe me. I didn't know why; I was telling the truth. Then again, Ino never believed me; this was why I should never been friends with therapists.

Good Christian men did not have premarital sex with a man. That was unspeakable. I knew there were some congregations that allowed gays and lesbians, but not where I come from. Where I came from, being a homosexual meant that you were shunned, and if you were in the closet. You had no choice but to hide in there for the rest of your natural born life. Unless you were smart and moved away as soon as possible.

And that was why I was not gay, because I was a good Christian man with no desire to spend time in said "closet" or move.

Ino, as expected, was not moved by my explanation. She only smirked and patted my head as if I was a puppy. "Of course. Of course. Now, how do you plan to tell your parents? They're bound to find out."

I almost laughed in her face.

"Parents? Ino, you cannot be serious. I can't tell them. Do you want me to burn on the stakes?"

I knew I should have just gone to the priest and changed my voice. It would have made my life so much easier. At least he wouldn't ask me if I liked men –not that it would matter, since I was not gay, bi, or anything like that. No matter how much Ino tried to prove otherwise, I was not.

Ino crossed her legs and set her notebook on her lap. She had her serious therapist look on. She cleared her throat before asking, "Was he at least attractive?"

"Are you kidding me? I am about to have a serious mental breakdown because I had sex with a man, a _man_, and you're asking me _that_?"

"It is a simple question that you can answer with a yes or a no," Ino replied in a stern voice. Of course she would not care about my welfare. All she wanted to know was the details of last night, which would not be coming anytime soon because one, it was none of her business and two, I never wanted to think about last night for the rest my natural born life. "Well?"

I blushed. I was sure that I didn't have to discuss these things with my therapist, right?

"I suppose so- wait, no! That wasn't what I meant."

Completely and utterly satisfied, Ino clasped her hands together and smiled as if she won the lottery. "This means that you do have a little thing for men. It is okay, Naruto. Some people have to find out the hard way."

I slumped down my chair. I didn't like guys. Last night was an accident. A very big, major and horrible accident.

"I am not a homosexual."

Ino gave me an unconvinced look before jotting down notes in her notebook. According to her, she had to write notes about our sessions just in case something catastrophic happened to me. I hoped she did not plan on posting it in her memoir in the future; the last thing I wanted was my hometown to find out what I was doing.

"Okay, I believe you," She said, sounding like she believed the complete opposite. "Was the experience enjoyable? I know you don't like men but hey, an orgasm is an orgasm."

"I am not entitled to answer that question."

Ino rolled her eyes and slight frowned with disappointment. "Can you at least tell me why you had a one night stand? I have to admit, Naruto, this is completely out of character."

You don't say?

I glared at In. I swore I had told her the story about fifty times. "I was drunk. I didn't know what I was doing. He drugged me."

(I would not admit out loud that I was not really drunk. A bit tipsy, yes, but not drunk. I had some memory of what happened).

Ino nodded and wrote more things down. "Ah yes, I think you're told me this before. But don't you think you're as much at fault for last night as he? You said earlier this morning that you remembered everything which means that you were not completely drunk."

This woman did not get it. Why was she blaming me? I was the victim! Shouldn't she be blaming my ex-girlfriend? Or maybe the man who looked likes a porn star? It was their faults! If he didn't decide to have sex and drug me, then I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!

This woman did not get it. Why was she blaming me? I was the victim! Shouldn't she be blaming my ex-girlfriend? Or maybe the man who looked like a porn star? It was their faults! If he didn't decide to have sex and drug me, then I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!

"Why do you even care?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because I am you're therapist and friend. I am supposed to care."

I hated that woman.

I really did.

Ino could think whatever she wanted. But I knew she did not know what she was talking about. So what if she had a PhD in psychology and probably could solve all mental illnesses if she really put her mind to it? That did not mean she knew everything about people's sexual orientation.

And for the record, just because I had a one night stand with a random man, did not mean I was a homosexual. I liked women; I loved women. I dated women all the time.

Ino snorted and stated in a bored tone. "The first stage is denial. It seems that you are not ready to move to the next step yet."

What was she talking about?

No, better question: how did she know what I was thinking? Oh man, did I say that out loud?

I thought for a moment; I didn't think so. I narrowed my eyes and pointed an accusing finger at her. "Are you a mind reader?"

Ino was not intimidated by my finger pointing. Instead, she just rolled her eyes and scoffed. "In case you haven't noticed, you tend to think to yourself out loud."

Great.

Just great.

"Moving on. What was his name?"

"I don't know," I softly replied, instantly regretting answering that question. God, I was so disgusted with myself. I slept, by accident, with a man who didn't even tell me his name. Oh, now I definitely knew I was going to Hell because of this.

Ino gave me an incredulous look before giving me a smirk, as if she was actually proud of me. "You had a one night stand with a guy who didn't give you his name? That's so wanton of you!"

"For crying out loud, I was drunk and drugged. Rationality wasn't very important at that time."

There was no point. She wasn't going to listen to me.

Ino clasped her hands together with pure joy once again. "No, you just decided to get out of your parents' protective grasp and learned to live your life. Granted, I wish you didn't have to go do something this extreme, but I'll take it."

"Can you kill me now?"

Ino shook her head. "I'm sorry; murder is capital sin. Not to mention, I am not going to spend the rest of my life in jail."

She had a point.

"Then can I kill myself?"

"Sorry again, suicide would just land you in Hell, and then I'll get in trouble too. You don't want that do you?"

I lowered my head in defeat. "No…"

"Oh come on, Naruto, cheer up. People sin all the time. Just ask Jesus and God or whoever for forgiveness and you will never see that man again."

This was the best advice Ino had told me all day. She was right; why was I stressing over this? One night stands meant no strings attached; I probably wasn't going to see that bastard for the rest of my life.

I squirmed in the even more uncomfortable chair. Oh my God, my butt felt like it was on fire. I hated chairs like this; why couldn't I sit somewhere soft? I was so stupid. Darn, it was like I had a pole go right through-

Oh god, I did not just think that.

"It looks like you have had one hell of a night," Ino commented, ignoring my glare, and devilishly smirked. "So I'm guessing from the way you are fidgeting that you bottomed for him."

My eyes widened in horror while I felt my face turning into the color of tomatoes.

Did she have no shame?

Did also I mention how much I hated her?

"Aren't you supposed to be my therapist? Aren't you supposed to help me out? I am not paying you just so you can tease me!"

Ino looked offended. "Naruto, shame on you. I am not teasing you; I am just stating the obvious. Just make sure you don't do that in front of your parents. They may suspect something."

"I don't know what they would suspect." I crossed my arms and pouted. "I am not a homosexual. I don't like guys in that way."

Ino just ignored me and wrote some more things down in her note pad. She looked back up and asked. "If that is the case, why didn't you just sleep with a woman? It would have made your life, and this conversation, a lot easier."

"How on earth am I supposed to know? I was drunk!"

Alright, like I said before, I was not that drunk; I still could remember things that under no circumstances I would mention. But I was drunk enough.

"Yes, I am aware of that." She sighed. "Naruto, don't drive yourself crazy. It's not the end of the world. Trust me when I say that some people have definitely done worse."

"This is not helping me."

Ino gave me that look. "I think you should explore the possibility that you may have some attraction to men. You said that you thought he was physically appealing before the drinks rolled in, yes? Maybe this means something."

I took a deep breath. Alright, there was no point trying to prove her wrong right now. And because of this, I had no choice but to go to desperate measures: I was going to find a woman to have sex with- oh maybe I should find a prostitute.

"No, you will not," Ino challenged. She must have used her mind reading trick again. "Doing so will only fuel your insecurities about your sexual orientation."

I was convinced that Ino was the one who needed a therapist, not me. She was getting more outrageous by the second. How she managed to get a Psychology Degree and a doctorate from one of the top schools in the country was beyond me.

I groaned loudly as she continued to lecture me about my issues revolving around sexual orientation and stages of denial and what not.

* * *

Yesterday, I had intended to stay at Ino's office for a while longer so I could spill all of my angsty issues to her. but, my plans had been shattered after I remembered that I had to go to my parents' house for dinner tonight and deal with Sakura.

Since Sakura and I were no longer together, she kicked me out of the apartment. She could legally do this since her name was on the lease and I didn't bother putting my name on anything- I did pay part of the rent though. And since I no longer had a home, I had no choice but to move back to my old place.

I was not a happy camper.

I didn't want to go my parents' house soon but Tsunade insisted that the entire family ate together for dinner. And since I had no apartment, I had to listen to all of the rules and help Tsunade make dinner every night.

(Tsunade wasn't necessarily my mother, and Jiraiya wasn't necessarily my father. She and Jiraiya adopted me about a month after my parents died in a horrible car crash. Apparently, the two needed to adopt a son so they could raise me to become a priest like Jiraiya. Though I could not understand how Jiraiya was a priest…he was the biggest pervert in the world –no, the universe. He used to make porno books for God's sake! How on Earth did he become a priest? I would sure love to know).

I didn't understand why we couldn't have ramen for dinner –it was cheaper, more efficient, and, after several bowls or so, it would brighten anyone's day (including those who were depressed). Not to mention it was a hell of a lot easier to make than a full-fledged dinner. But what did I know? No one listened to me.

Tsunade was very traditional when it came to dinner, but it wasn't like she really did the cooking. She never cooked –although she always managed to persuade everyone that she was God's gift to all chefs. It was normally me or another member of the church who had nothing else to do with their life who would do the cooking. Even though it was time consuming and sometimes really irritating, I did not mind making huge meals, especially if that meant I wouldn't have to worry about being poisoned by Tsunade's cooking.

It wasn't her fault; she was brought up to only get married, and have good Christian babies –hiring a maid and chef to do all of her dirty work. Tsunade was from a wealthy Japanese family, and she stayed on the island until about twenty-five years ago –when her father thought it was a good idea to piss some Yakuza leader off. So, in order not to be killed, she had to get on a boat to America, somehow ending up in Arizona.

Tsunade hated that place as much as she hated non- believers.

So she found a way to get to Utah, settling there and marrying Jiraiya soon after. She claimed it was for love, though I did not know how someone could love a pervert like Jiraiya. But I had never questioned her; she would probably throw me in a ditch.

Anyway, as soon as Jiraiya came through the door from a church council meeting, Tsunade dropped what she was doing and ran up to him, taking off his jacket, tie, and shoes before giving him his slippers. Jiraiya would stand there like a celebrity, and did not even have the courtesy to say thank you.

Then the evil witch came.

Her name Megumi, and she was unfortunately my older "sister" whose main goal in life was to get me a good Christian wife. Because according to her, I was a lonely, depressed man who was soon going to turn suicidal. Of course, when I told her that I got a girlfriend, she warned me that Sakura was a cheater. I guessed I really should have listened to Megumi.

I wasn't going to tell her that I was now a single, depressed man who got drunk and had a one night stand with a random guy last night; she would never let me live it down and tell my parents, who would not hesitate to send me away.

I didn't know who was worse, my parents or her.

She was the epitome of the "perfect" daughter. She was in church every, single, solitary day, and was the main teacher in Sunday school. She only listened to music that had something to do with Jesus. I was convinced that she only read the Bible for a living. She married young, at age eighteen, to be exact, to this guy who was older than my dad. Yes, it was truly disturbing. He was a part of the church clergy, although it seemed that he had an unhealthy obsession with alcohol. It didn't matter, though, if he got drunk because, although my sister seemed to be very reserved, she could kick his butt like nobody's business.

"Hello, mother, father….Naru-boy…"

Naru-boy was a nickname that Megumi loved to call me, although I despised it with a passion. The name made me sound like a ten-year old. A stupid ten-year old.

My parents greeted her with a hug.

"Where is your husband?"

Megumi began to take her coat off. She smiled at my mother. "Well, he had a meeting at the mayor's house tonight, and the kids wanted to stay with their grandmother. Therefore, I let them be. Less kids to worry about. I just thought it would be nice to see my loving family." She smirked at me as Tsunade began rambling about how perfect she was.

I called her the evil witch because she was one. I was not sure if she practiced witchcraft or anything, but she was evil. Especially towards me. She always interfered with my life and claimed that I needed to be saved every five seconds…or she would give the biological clock speech.

And I had a feeling that was exactly what she was going to do, because evil older sisters like her did not sit next to their brothers and give them bone-crushing hugs unless there was some hidden evil objective to it. It just wasn't possible.

"You need to get married, Naru-boy, your biological clock is ticking."

See? I wasn't lying.

"I'm only twenty-two! And stop calling me Naru-boy!"

Megumi rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I don't care how old you are. You have to procreate to get more people into the church."

"I'm only twenty- two!"

"I was married and pregnant when I was eighteen."

"Because you're insane!"

"I know just the person I can set you up with."

Megumi just loved to be my match maker. Every single time Megumi made me go on a blind date, it always ended up in disaster. The last blind date resulted in me sitting in the back of the police car –because my date, apparently, was some underground drug queen who just happened to own a prostitute ranch outside of town. Megumi claimed she did not know about this, and she probably didn't because God forbid she notice that not only did the woman had three pounds of heroin in her purse, but that she went to jail about five million times, and had former pimps coming after her. So thirty gun shots, getting chased by rabid criminals for two hours, and a trip to the downtown police station later, I finally promised to myself that I was never going to go on a Megumi blind date ever again.

And I had no intentions on breaking my promise, because good Christian men should not break promises.

"Do you remember what happened last time?"

"It was an accident! I didn't know she was messed up like that."

"I was on the eleven o'clock news! The news! Tsunade and Jiraiya thought I was a stoner for a year!"

"Naruto Uzumaki, do not use that language in this house!" Tsunade yelled from the kitchen waving the dough roller around like a crazy woman. She was trying very hard to look like she was preparing food, but she didn't fool anyone. I bet she was chatting with her "church friends" about her soap operas.

I glared at Megumi while she laughed.

When the clock struck seven, it was time for dinner.

Joy.

It's not that I don't enjoy eating with them, but after a while, the conversation topics wore at my nerves. Hearing about how amazing Jiraiya was as a priest and how I should follow in his footsteps instead of stop trying to make my own newspaper company was getting annoying. Nagging at me for a good hour was not going to change my future career to becoming a priest. No matter how hard they tried. I have my own goals, and they need to learn to deal with it.

"Son, why don't you say a sermon at the church this Sunday?"

I groaned.

Jiraiya had been asking that question since I graduated from high school, and I stupidly told him in front of the entire church committee that I didn't want to do a seminary for school. For some reason he felt that if he kept on asking me I would get so annoyed that I would have no choice but to comply just to shut him up.

"I don't that would be a good idea."

Jiraiya gave me a stern look and went back to his dinner.

I gulped. "What do you think about gays?"

My parents dropped their utensils and stared at me oddly. Megumi tried to hide a chuckle by shoving more chicken into her mouth. She ate like a monkey sometimes and it was truly disgusting. Maybe that could explain why her children acted like they were raised by wolves. This must be investigated.

Jiraiya loudly cleared his throat. "What do you mean, son?"

"I mean what do think about gays?"

"Gays…" Tsunade began while sitting straightly up in her seat. When she did this, it meant she was very uncomfortable. She gulped before quietly saying, "Well you know that the Lord loves everyone."

"You did not answer my question."

"What made you think of this?" Jiraiya asked cautiously. I knew I should have kept my big mouth shut. Now my parents were really going to religiously analyze me until I detonate. God, this was going to be worse than my visit to Dr. Ino-Traitor-Gays Loving-Yamanaka. But, just like with Ino, I'd suck it up and follow through until I get an answer.

"Uh…" I needed to make something up and fast. Jiraiya was giving me his famous 'I am Suspicious of you' glare, and if I didn't say something worthwhile, then I was going to be dragged to the church to be crucified. "Well…I saw some homosexuals going into the church today and they asked me if they could join the church."

My parents stared at me dumbly. Oh yes, the "Let's Analyze Naruto until he Explodes Session" was about to begin in no time. Maybe I should have stayed quiet –there's no way I could get an actual answer now.

"And uh…I told them that I wasn't sure because since you, father, are the priest –the only person who would know… They just moved here…from…um…San Francisco."

Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at each other, then at me. Tsunade gulped and smiled, "I have nothing against gay people, but I am not going to lie to your face and say that I support them."

"No, I was just wondering for the sake of the gay people that wanted to join the church…"

Jiraiya nodded and returned to his meal. He mumbled, "I just had a bizarre thought that my son was indirectly saying that he was a homosexual."

I choked on a piece of chicken. I was so screwed. I might was well just drop dead. Or make a run for it.

"Our son is not gay." Tsunade smiled warmly at us. "Guess what?" She said, trying to change the subject. "There is this really interesting church conference in New York City that is going to last for a good month. I want both of you to go because I think you both need some Jesus in your lives."

She quickly glanced at me, indicating that she was only referring to me. I didn't know why. All I asked was how she felt about gays.

"Your father and some of the church members created enough funds to send you both to New York. Your plane tickets are paid for. You will leave in two days."

"But-" Megumi began, but stopped when Jiraiya gave her the "no nonsense" look. She closed her mouth, leaned back on the chair, and pouted.

"You both are going and that's final."

I opened my mouth to protest, but was interrupted by the phone ringing. No one bothered to pick it up –it was a rule that no one talked to anyone on the phone during dinner (unless it was an emergency). Although hearing it ring was annoying, we had no choice but to ignore it and let it go to the answering machine.

And it did.

"Jiraiya…" the message began with a flirty female voice. Megumi and I looked at each other, confused, but my parents chose to ignore it, "It's me. Last night was great, but I need some money for my son. He's getting out of the Russian jail, and needs money for his flight back home. If you do this, I'll give you a reward. I'll wear that outfit you love."

Whoa…talk about racy…

It looked like someone had some serious explaining to do. Everyone turned to Jiraiya, so he could at least give us an explanation, but he didn't. He continued eating as if he didn't hear that message –as if he was completely oblivious to the voice mail.

"Who was that?" Tsunade demanded, fuming. You could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.

"Tsunade, please. We cannot discuss this now."

Bad answer. Rule number one when dealing with an angry Tsunade: never tell her that you couldn't discuss something with her now, because she would just get even madder and start throwing plates at random people.

As expected, Tsunade wasn't taking that as an answer. She glared at Jiraiya and looked like she was tempted to throw her knife at him. I hadn't seen her this mad since that time she found out that Megumi's high school boyfriend was an atheist. I thought she was going to kill him, or something.

"No. We will discuss this now. Who is she?"

Megumi and I glanced at each other with worry, then at my furious mother and impassive father. I didn't know why Jiraiya was so calm –if Tsunade found out that he was doing things that priests were not supposed to be doing, well, let's just say that I thought it would be wise to get out of there as soon as possible, leaving behind a fight that would put the WWE to shame. Megumi agreed with me, and, with a small nod, we both slowly got out of our chairs and made a beeline towards the door.

But before my sister and I could get away from Tsunade's future wrath, Tsunade grabbed my shirt and dragged me back to the chair. Megumi got the hint and sat back down in her chair.

We both gulped.

"You two aren't going anywhere…" Tsunade crossed her arms, "Not until your father answers my question."

Oh, Jiraiya was in deep, deep trouble now. I wondered how Tsunade would kill him…at least I didn't think that she would shoot him, she threw away that shotgun…or did she? You never knew with that women, she could have a private stash of weapons hidden somewhere.

"Honey, we have more pressing issues to deal with…for instance our son's sexuality."

That- that- asshole! It almost made me feel better that Tsunade would take him out. Almost.

I stared at him in horror and anger as Megumi gave me a questioning look. I just gave her a smile, a nervous smile, while praying that no one was going to go on the gay topic. Luckily, Tsunade didn't seem to pay attention to what Jiraiya was saying –she was too busy clenching her butter knife.

I scowled. Of course, that bastard would do anything to save his behind. I couldn't believe he thought I was gay.

Tsunade scoffed, "Stop changing the subject. You know that our son is not gay. He was just looking out for others like a good Christian man."

My scowl faded. Thank God for Tsunade!

Jiraiya glared at me, then at Tsunade because he knew that he was dead meat, "So you don't mind if our son is gay?"

Megumi choked on her string beans, and said in my defense, "As much as I hate Naru-boy, I know he's not gay."

"Thank you Megumi."

My sister gave me a disgusted look and began to eat again.

"Who is she?" Tsunade asked.

That was a good question, because women normally did not call Jiraiya at this time. If they wanted advice, they went to Tsunade –never Jiraiya. I hoped he knew what he was doing, because it was about to get ugly.

"My mistress."

Tsunade slammed her knife down on the table, "Mistress!"

Megumi and I looked at each other in shock, but did not say anything. It wasn't our position. I wasn't surprised that Jiraiya was cheating on Tsunade; he was like the king of perverts. He even wrote a whole porn series!

"What is her name?" Tsunade calmly asked, though she was seething through her teeth, trying her best not to snap.

"Kaede…"

"Kaede?" Tsunade repeated with anger laced in her voice. It was obvious that Tsunade was hurt, but it was more obvious that she was furious. Why wouldn't she be? The man she loved cheated on her. I was surprised she did not kill him yet, although I could see that happening later on tonight.

Megumi and I gasped in shock.

Kaede was by far the oldest secretary that I had ever met. She had been in the Church since the late 1940's and refused to give up her job even though everyone in her clergy, except Jiraiya, begged her to retire after she had a stroke. I had to admit, she was pretty strong willed, but I was sure no one knew that she used to be a Russian spy. She told me this before I went away to college just in case the Russians wanted to take me.

I told her that the Cold War was over, and that the Russians had better things to deal with than an eighteen year old, but she didn't believe me.

She also thought that the Cubans were going to blow up Salt Lake City, and even tried to convince the president of this. When she was going to be sent to jail for conspiracy, we, as in the entire clergy, had to convince the judge that Kaede was just a crazy old lady who thought she was still in the Cold War.

And of course, we used the most infamous question. "What would Jesus do?"

We all knew the woman was crazy, but I had no idea that she would have an affair with her boss/priest…who was young enough to be her son.

Who the hell did things like that?

I knew I should be surprised, but I wasn't. Jiraiya was too perfect to not do something wrong. It wasn't like he was God or something; he was bound to make a major sin. And I did notice that Kaede tended to check Jiraiya out.

But this? What priest slept with their eighty-year-old secretary? That's just…wrong.

"So are you telling me that you prefer sex from an old, wrinkly, woman more than from your own wife?"

I nearly gagged. That was something that I definitely did not want to hear.

"Tsunade…"

"I want a divorce!"

And with that my extremely pissed off, homicidal, and future murderer of a mother, stormed out of the kitchen leaving Jiraiya, Megumi, and me staring at the door beyond dumbfounded…and terrified.

"You both will be leaving the day after tomorrow." Jiraiya muttered lowly before he drank some of his water, "And I do not want anyone else to find out about what happened during dinner." He looked at Megumi, "Not even your husband." He quickly glanced at me, "Nor Ino."

Megumi and I nodded.

None of us said anything after that. There was really nothing to talk about. What could someone say after they had found out that their father was cheating on their mother with someone who could be their grandmother?

Megumi quietly finished her dinner, for once not teasing me.

I quietly copied her and tried to eat the fish. I hated fish with a passion, but there was nothing else on my plate. Tsunade did not believe in selective eating, you either ate everything, or nothing at all. Jiraiya did not eat anything. He was just staring dumbly at his half full plate.

"Dad…" Megumi began before she trailed off. I knew she was mad. Very mad, and I was too…I just did not show it. Cheating was one of the things she did not tolerate from anyone –not even from her own father.

Jiraiya ignored her, threw his napkin on the table, got up, slightly pushed the chair in, and sighed, "I need to go…and talk to your mother." And with that, he left. I was sure that he was going to be sleeping on the couch tonight…or outside. Under the ground.

I knew I was not safe from the evil witch when Jiraiya trudged out of the dining room –because I knew that Megumi was not happy. The last thing she wanted to do was go to a Christian seminar with her younger 'whiny' brother…so what if she was super religious?

She slowly turned to me with an angry look in her eyes, and pointed her fork at me in a threatening way. "What the hell did you do?"

Megumi always placed the blame on me –even I had nothing to do with it. That woman was a bully –I didn't know how her husband dealt with her.

"I didn't do anything!"

"I can't believe I have to leave my babies!"

"Your husband can take care of them."

Megumi glared at me, "Jerry can barely take care of himself!"

Oh, so that was his name…

"Look, I know you're mad. Hell, do you think I want to go to this seminar thing? Because I definitely don't – but we have to go…for mom."

Megumi crossed her arms, and gave me a defeated look, "For mom…and only for mom…"

I guessed the evil witch had a heart after all…

Back to the present:

Ino leaned back in her seat, nodding as I continued to explain to her about last night's events. I thought she found this a lot more amusing than she should. "How is your mother now? I cannot believe your father would do something like this."

"She tried to stab him to death, and now Jiraiya is trying to get a restraining order against her."

"Oh, that's nice." Even Ino was used to Tsunade's insanity. Maybe Tsunade should be the one in therapy, not me. She had some serious anger issues. Better yet, she needed to attend some anger management classes.

Ino smiled while writing some notes in her writing pad. I was convinced that she found the entire situation funny. "Is there anything else you have to tell me?"

I groaned. I supposed I had no choice but to tell her about my trip to New York. She was bound to find out, "Tsunade thinks that Megumi and I need some spiritual guidance, so she's shipping us to New York City to go to this boring Church seminar."

Ino gasped and dropped her notebook. "You are going to New York? Take me with me, will please? I have never been there before."

Why did I tell her this?

"Uh…"

Okay, I needed to make up a good excuse to why Ino couldn't come to with us.

"It is highly advisable that I attend this trip with you," Ino calmly but sternly said, folding her hands on her lap. "Your doctors said that you should not go two weeks without seeing me for a session."

Oh crap, she was right. The dumb doctors said that I was so crazy that if I didn't see Ino frequently, I would end up becoming a serial killer. It completely made no sense to me because I only had panic attacks, but the doctors said that they knew what they were saying. They also said that knew what they were saying when they told me I had pancreatic cancer, but they were wrong.

I guessed I could take Ino. I didn't think I could deal with just my crazy matchmaking sister for a month.

"Fine," I mumbled, crossing my arms. I wanted to show her that I was not very happy about this, but I doubted she even noticed.

Ino genuinely smiled and clapped. "Well, it's settled. Just send me the details-" She paused and her smile turned into a wide smirk. "I heard that there is a relatively large gay community in New York City. Maybe you can figure yourself out there? If you want, I will glad help you with this endeavor."

I frowned. She was still thinking about my sexual orientation? I was straight; there was nothing to figure out.

I shook my head furiously. Ino could not do anything gay related when we went to New York. Megumi would flip then tell Tsunade and seriously, I told her way too many times that I did not want a boyfriend, "Ino, Megumi is going with me. You know, my crazy conservative sister?"

Ino shrugged and did not see the issue with anything. "The point? I assure you that she cares more about your happiness and who you would be happy with. Plus, she's a lot more liberal than you think." She smiled at my horrified look. "Oh, is it okay if I bring Moegi?"

No, Moegi could not go. I would be in jail if she tagged along. Knowing her, she would try to hook up every guy to another guy just because she thought it was hot. And according to Jiraiya, New Yorkers weren't the nicest people.

"She's sixteen."

"So?" Ino replied as if she saw nothing wrong with dragging her niece from hell to the trip from hell. "I promised her that I would take her on a big trip. Plus, she can drive pretty well. I'm pretty sure that can count for something."

What did that prove? She was still crazy. I was not going to jail because of her. "Ino, I am not bringing that crazy girl with me. Do you want to ruin my life?"

Ino began to pout.

Darn her, I despised that puppy-eyed look. I couldn't say no to her. One because I couldn't resist it and I had a soft spot for people who gave that look, and two, she would make my life a living hell if I didn't bring Moegi along.

"Fine." I said. I knew I was going to regret this.

'All the single ladies…all the single ladies…'

I pouted, and was getting annoyed. I hated cell phones –the ring tones always annoyed me especially Ino's. I looked at her. She looked back at me, as if she was scared about something.

Could she pick up the damn phone?

"Ino," I growled and pointed to her phone. "The phone?"

Ino rolled her eyes and picked up her phone. "Hello?" She frowned and slowly said in a disgusted tone, "Oh hi, Sakura…"

My head instantly shot up. "Is that Sakura?"

Ino ignored me before she continued her rant on the phone. "Look, Sakura, he doesn't want to talk to you right now…I don't care

how much you want him back, you shouldn't have cheated on him with Lee in the first place!"

Sakura…

God I missed her. I knew I shouldn't after all she did, but nothing was going to make me forget about the good times we had before- before she decided to become a cheater. But I couldn't hate her; no matter how much I tried. I still loved her, and a part of me wanted to get back with her.

But I could not tell Ino that, because she would kill me. And I didn't think it was a great idea to tell her about Sakura kicking me out of the apartment.

That would send her over the edge.

"Whatever Sakura, I just want to tell you that Naruto Uzumaki doesn't want you either!"

Why would she say that? I wanted to give her another chance! So what if she cheated on me with one of my friends? So what if she, out of insanity, burned down my home? I wanted her back in my arms! I loved her! I needed her! I wanted to marry her!

I shook my head feverishly as Ino continued to mention how much I wasn't going to forgive her, but the traitor brushed me off, and continued her angry rant. This continued for a good five minutes before Ino hung up on her.

I never knew she could be so brutal.

I looked at her anxiously. I really wanted to know what Sakura said to her, and from the look Ino gave me, I knew she had said something important. I thought I had a right to know; it was about me, after all. Maybe she was sorry and wanted us to get back together.

Ino raised an eyebrow, then gave me the most vicious glare. "You're not serious…"

"About what?"

"You want to get back with that?"

I shrugged, not seeing the problem. I was still in love with her. And anyway, people made mistakes all the time. Maybe Sakura didn't mean to sleep with Lee. "Why not?"

She threw her hands up in the air in a very dramatic fashion, and called me a complete idiot. "Sakura said that Lee was a great lay even with his obnoxious eyebrows and that she didn't want to get back with you…"

I growled and buried my face in my hands. I couldn't believe this was happening. After all I did for her.

Oh great, I felt the tears coming from my eyes.

Now I was crying.

Just terrific.

"Hon…" Ino said sympathetically before giving me a box of Kleenex. "Hon, you're crying."

"I'm not crying…" I mumbled as Ino leaned over and wiped off the tears from my face. I knew since I was in a therapy session that I should be able to show all emotions, but crying in front of Ino was like crying in front of Jiraiya. It was unheard of.

I bet I looked like a pansy.

A big pansy.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I promise you are going to forget about that fool when we go to New York." She gave me a reassuring smile. "Naruto Uzumaki, you are going to have the time of your life."

"Th-thanks," was all I managed to choke out, as I tried to stop crying. Was I really that unlucky with women?

"I mean…am I that repulsive?"

She gave me a looked that just screamed confusion, and shook her head. "Naruto- what are you talking about?"

"Why is it that every girl I have dated was either a criminal, married, or a cheater?"

"Well maybe this is a sign that you should switch teams," Ino responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Of course, she would say that, because in the world of Ino, everyone should be queer. There was no point on reminding her that I was not into men. She would just brush it off and accuse me of being in denial. Some therapist she was.

"Ino, you know that wasn't what I meant…"

Ino chuckled. "I'm just messing with you," she said although I knew she was dead serious. "I know a way you can get a lot of dates. When we go to New York, Moegi and I can give you a makeover… If that makes you feel better."

That would definitely not make me feel better. Actually, that would make me feel a Hell of a lot worse. "No."

"Why not?" My insane therapist asked with sadness in her voice. I wasn't going to fall for that. Not one bit.

"Because the last time you tried to give me a makeover, I look like one of those gothic people. Tsunade thought I was worshipping the devil and made Jiraya perform an exorcism on me!"

Ino rolled her eyes and laughed, as if I was exaggerating, "Naruto, that was in high school. I thought the all black look would look nice on you."

Ino could not lie to save her life.

I scoffed. "You thought wrong."

"Oh come on. You should have been happy; all of gothic girls fought over you."

"Shut up. Ino."

"They did. I distinctly remember that and all of their boyfriends got jealous and planned to dump you in a ditch somewhere, but couldn't after Principal Sandaime found out."

I rolled my eyes. The only reason why those guys would want to dump me into a ditch was because I looked like a poser- thanks to Ino and her evil antics.

I should have stayed home with Jiraiya who feared for his life. It would have been much easier than being here. I had no idea why I was here. Oh right, I had to spill out my lovely emo-like feelings to one of the worst therapists in the world…Ino.

It explained everything.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

As soon as my therapy session finished, I had an epiphany.

I could not go across the country with Megumi, Ino and Moegi with me; that was a terrible idea. I could picture myself on the eleven o'clock news because those three attracted trouble wherever they went. Because I valued my life and had no intentions on going to jail, I decided to go to the one person who was sane enough to keep me sane throughout the entire New York trip.

Chouji.

Chouji was my best friend. He was an aspiring photographer and was the only one of my friends who was not parental approved or a Christian. He was Buddhist, which according to my parents meant that he was infidel. I didn't care what he was because he was a great friend, but it was hard trying to act like I didn't know him every time I was around the church goers.

We met in college during freshman orientation when I accidentally fell on him. It wasn't my fault, those annoying fraternity guys with their oversized sports bags bumped into me. And instead of threatening me like every other person would do, he started talking to me in his weird French/Japanese dialect about how he was sorry for bumping into me. We were friends ever since.

Chouji used to go out with this girl from France a couple of years back, until he found out that she was married to five other men. Poor guy, I thought he was going to commit suicide; he was a very sensitive person. After that, his parents attempted to send him back to Japan to get him married, but Chouji said no and his parents practically disowned him. I guessed they did not like the idea of him staying in Salt Lake City to pursue his dream.

But that was okay, I didn't want him to move out of Utah. I would lose it –especially since I would be stuck with the terrible trio.

Chouji was not the type of guy who liked people who took their time explaining things, especially when he was in the process of eating his prized chips (he's addicted to them). So when he opened the door to his rather small and shabby apartment, I immediately told him why I was here.

"Do you want to go to New York tomorrow?"

Chouji's face instantly lit up. I knew he wouldn't mind coming; going to New York was every aspiring photographer's dream.

"What? Why?"

"My parents said that Megumi and I should go this boring church seminar in New York City because they thought I was gay."

Chouji gave me a puzzled look. "But you're not gay…"

Maybe this wasn't a good time to tell him what happened a couple of nights ago. I didn't know how he would handle it. I didn't think that he was a homophobe, but I'd rather play it safe.

"Tell that to my parents. All I asked them was if they would let some homosexuals in our church, and now they think I am gay."

"That sucks…" Chouji laughed. "Okay, I'll go as your moral support."

"Great!" I exclaimed. "Just to warn you, it's going to be me, you, Ino, Megumi, and Moegi."

Chouji cringed. He too knew about the craziness of the terrible trio. "This gives me another reason to come with you. No man should be put in the torture of sticking with Ino, Megumi, and Moegi."

We laughed for a couple of minutes before I said. "Uh…okay, well, I have to go. We'll leave tomorrow. Don't worry about the tickets. I got you."

Chouji smiled and nodded before closing his apartment door. "Thanks man."

Today was D-Day; which was short for Doomsday.

Today was the day that I would be stuck with my insane friends and sister for God knows how long, while in New York City which was on the other side of the country.

I knew that I was not going to come back to Utah alive, or even in one piece. I was on a five hour flight with my evil sister, my perverted therapist, her mentally insane, slash fan girl of a niece, and my over emotional friend who was still not over his ex-girlfriend (although they had been broken up for two years).

Things like this only happened to people like me.

And while I was packing for the New York trip from Hell, I had just received the most horrifying revelation.

No, it wasn't that the world was coming to an end. And this time, it wasn't that Ino had told the whole world that I was gay. No, it was much worse. It was worse than being on one of Megumi's blind dates –there was only one way to get to New York without driving: taking a plane.

My God, I thought that I was going to puke.

I had avian-phobia ever since Megumi made me watch this movie about a plane that crashed in the Andes Mountains –people had to become cannibals because there was no food. The thought of people eating dead human bodies did not go well with my stomach; I threw up a good ten times before the movie was over.

And I had nightmares about that movie and planes blowing up in the sky for a good month. But, I guess I had no choice but to suck up my avian fear and go on that plane. There was no way in Hell I was going on a road trip from Utah to New York with Megumi, Ino, Moegi, and Chouji in one car. That was suicide, pure suicide.

But that didn't mean it stopped me from whining about it when I got to the plane terminal. I was freaking out so badly that Ino had to hold my hand. Okay fine, maybe it was a good idea to bring Ino with me after all.

"I think we should get something to eat," Chouji offered as he gave me a hard pat on the back. "Food always makes things better, and anyway, I'm starving."

"And we aren't boarding for another five hours," Moegi said, rubbing her stomach.

All four of us arrived at the gate much earlier than other people because Megumi thought that we would be late. We all went to the food court, which was not far from our gate, and ordered food from McDonalds. Yeah, sure, McDonalds probably had cancer written all over it, but they had some good food.

But then I stopped, as my jaw dropped to the ground. I began to drool as I saw the most beautiful and delicious things I had ever set my eyes on. Licked my lips with desire.

No, it wasn't a guy, despite what Ino thought. No, it was so much better. It was the most amazing invention to ever be made: ramen. There was a ramen stand right next to the McDonald's, and I swore that the ramen was calling my name. Yes, this might sound crazy, but I did not care, it was really calling my name; begging me to eat it.

I checked my pockets for money. Yes! I was in luck! I had ten dollars. This should do it: Ramen did not cost that much money.

But, as soon as I was about to sprint to the ramen stand, Ino, being the mean, sadistic person she was, stopped me in my tracks. Damn her!

"Ino, what the hell?"

Ino gave me that look, crossed her arms and shook her head in shame. "I thought we have established that you are going to stop obsessing over material things?"

"But it's ramen!"

"I don't care if it's God, himself, now come on."

"No, but the ramen is calling my name. It wants me to eat it!" I whined as Ino dragged me back to McDonalds.

Life was so unfair, especially when it concerned me.

We sat down at a large table after our visit to McDonald's. I sat between Megumi and Moegi –Chouji and Ino sat together. Everything, for once, was going "fine" until Megumi leaned close to my ear and whispered while staring at Chouji. "Isn't that the guy who mother and father hate?"

"Because he was Buddhist?"

Megumi nodded. "Yeah."

"That's him."

"Is it me, or is he hot?"

"You're married."

The evil witch snorted. "Just because I'm married doesn't mean I'm dead." She scanned him up and down as Chouji got up to use the bathroom.

Megumi could be such a pervert-

Oh my God. Why did Chouji leave? Now I was stuck with the terrible trio!

Well, there went my life.

"I'll be right back you guys, I am going to get more food." And with that Ino also left with Megumi following close behind. So that meant I was alone with Moegi –the slash loving Moegi, who was currently crossing her arms. She eyed me in a taunting way. Moegi was just as crazy as her aunt, and that was something that was really hard to accomplish.

Kill me now.

Oh great, she was trying to eye-analyze me. Why did I agree to let her come along? She would just make my life a living hell.

"So I heard that you have finally come to your senses…"

She didn't even have to finish her sentence, and I still knew what she was talking about. The only things that were in her mind were gay couples, gay sex, and ruining my life. And Harry Potter.

"Moegi," I said, trying to explain any misinformation that Meogi might have heard from Ino. "Despite what your aunt has told you, I am not a homosexual."

Moegi just laughed as she took a seat, unfortunately right in front of me. "Of course not, you're just man-whore-look-alike sexual."

That was it. I couldn't deal with this anymore. I was going to fire Ino as my therapist (of course, I would do this as soon as this trip was over). Therapists were supposed to help people out.

"I'm going to kill Ino…"

"You can't. You'll go to prison." Moegi smiled widely and patted my hands. "But don't worry, I won't tell your parents."

Oh right. Maybe I should believe her- not! She could not hold a secret if her life depended on it, just like her aunt.

Seriously, was Ino's entire family mental?

"So how did it feel?" Moegi asked while staring at me in an interested fashion. She really knew how to scare people with those eyes. It looked like they were about to come out of her eye sockets at any second. I bet she learned that trick from Ino.

"How does what feel?" I asked innocently, although I had a feeling I knew what she meant. I didn't know what was up with teenagers and their insane hormones; they could never get their mind out of the gutter.

Maybe it was just this generation, because when I was in high school, I never had a problem. Then again, Tsunade probably injected some anti-hormonal thing in my body so I wouldn't end up like Megumi- also known as the former queen of messing around.

Moegi groaned as she lightly punched me in the arm –except her version of lightly punching, and the rest of the human race's version, was completely different. The crazed girl did shot put and lifts weights every five seconds. She was strong, way too strong.

"You know what I mean." She groaned again at my 'puzzled' expression. "How did it feel getting fucked by a guy?"

See what I meant? She could never keep her mind out of the gutter. Pervert.

Who the hell asked those types of questions anyway?

Right before I could even say anything back, Chouji, Megumi and Ino, with some McNuggets came back. Maybe this time, I would not have to deal with Moegi's mental insanity.

Ino smiled as she sat down. "Anything exciting happening?"

"No…" was my quiet reply. I hoped and prayed that Moegi wouldn't say anything. I knew she was evil because she was related to Ino, but I was sure she noticed my distress and gained enough heart to not mention the one night stand.

Moegi laughed as she took a box for the chicken nuggets. "Oh nothing much, I was just telling Naruto here that he should admit that he was gay."

Was it possible for the floor underneath me to open and make me fall through? I would love that so much right about now.

As expected, Ino gave Moegi a prideful smile and gave her niece twenty bucks out of gratitude. I bet this was her plan all along. She couldn't bring herself to say anything in front of Megumi and Chouji so she hired her evil niece to do her dirty work.

Megumi almost choked on the soda that she had just brought. It took her a while to regain her stance before she stared at me with disbelief, surprise and every other adjective that explain shock. After taking a few much needed breaths she cautiously asked. "Y-you're gay?"

I was really going to kill Ino for this. I knew what she was doing but her plan to make everyone accept me for who I was (although I kept on telling her that I liked women and only women) was backfiring. I was shocked that Megumi didn't instantly tell my parents about this.

"No!" I shouted, trying to regain what was left of my dignity.

"Well, we don't know yet. He just had a one night stand with a man," Moegi said simply. Of course, Moegi would say that to my ultra conservative sister because she was just that crazy. I wished she was never alive, then I wouldn't have to worry about her divulging secrets that should never be told.

"You did what?" Megumi shouted on top of her lungs. She was looking at me as if she was one of those people on the talk shows who had just found out about some heartbreaking secret. She tried to calm down by blinking a couple of times, "Oh my God…that's…wow. I never…wait." Megumi gave me a suspicious look. "That was why you asked our parents about what they thought about gay people."

I rolled my eyes and groaned, attempting to sound like Megumi's accusation wasn't true although it was. "No it wasn't, because I am not gay. What is wrong with you people?"

Ino shook her head and proceeded to finish eating. She was avoiding my gaze for a while now. Maybe it was because I was five seconds away from suffocating her with one of the luggage bags. "Denial…denial…" she mumbled, "Denial…denial…"

Chouji didn't say anything this entire time. Thankfully, it was probably because he was eating. From the way he was sitting, I could tell he was uncomfortable. Who could blame him? He just heard from some crazy woman that his best friend was supposedly gay.

"Naruto…" Chouji slowly started before he sat down. To say that he was shocked would have been a dumb observation; he was more than shocked. Hell, I didn't know how he was feeling but damn, I needed to do something about Ino. I knew she meant well, most of the time, but she kept on ruining my life. "You're gay?"

I huffed. I was getting really frustrated right now. I was probably going to lose one of my best friends because of two certain people's big, stupid, mouths.

"No," I answered, giving Ino and Moegi my best glare. Moegi began to retreat while Ino stood her ground. Unfortunately, my glares did not work on her. "I'm not. Ino and her niece don't know when to stop or shut up."

Ino was unfazed by the angry tone of my voice. She probably thought that this entire thing was a big, fat joke. "Chouji, Naruto's experiencing a change in orientation. He just won't admit it." She smiled at me. I didn't know why she did this. I was really going to murder her. From what I had heard, women took the whole 'I am gay' news much better than men did. And thanks to her and her lack of concern for other's sanity, I was going to lose the only friend that was relatively sane.

Well, I wasn't going to let this happen. Not to me. I was going to explain myself and persuade Chouji that everything he heard, well almost everything, was all a lie. "Chouji…please don't-"

Chouji laughed nervously as he reached out for his mozzarella stick. Look, we have been friends for almost four years…you think I am going to hate you now because you are…gay? You're crazy."

That went much better than I thought…even though it was all based on a lie.

"That is so touching…" Moegi smirked and threw her fists in the air. "Well since that secret is out, I guess all four of us have no choice but to band together and find Naruto a nice, hot piece of man meat."

I cringed. That sounded wrong in so many ways. When would the day come when Ino and Moegi realize that I, under no circumstances, wanted a boyfriend…or hot piece of man meat? I was still getting over Sakura and her craziness. I still needed to find a place to live (I wasn't going to deal with my parents anymore). I had so much drama that was going on; I was not in the mood for this.

I thought the only person who was going to go along with this plan was Ino. However, surprisingly, Chouji and Megumi agreed with Moegi. Megumi's shock seemed to wear off significantly, and Chouji, well, I was still trying to figure out what he thought.

Megumi sighed and said, "Okay, fine, I will go along with this plan only because I want Naruto to be happy." She turned to me. "I'm not really fine with this gay thing, but as long as we get someone that is not Sakura-like, I can care less."

Hey, that was the nicest thing Megumi had ever said about me. I never knew she wanted me to be happy; I only thought she wanted to torture me. Maybe there was more to Megumi than I thought.

Ino agreed with my sister. "Yes, but remember this is only an experience. However, we have to make sure that he cannot be anything like Sakura. He would only break Naruto's heart. And anyway, Naruto, you need someone and fast, especially after what Sakura did to you."

Chouji, who had finally finished his food, nodded. "You know, Naruto, she's right. You're not taking the breakup well. Maybe this trip can do some good to you…though, I think we should pair you up with a girl instead." He shuddered at Ino's death glare. "Or not…"

Poor Chouji, he was just too naive to sense the evil scheme that Megumi, Moegi, and Ino were devising.

Now when my friends and sister agreed to find someone to fill in my relationship void, I thought that they would do it when we actually landed in New York City.

Unfortunately, it looked like they had other plans.

"Ino, why are doing this now?" I asked with annoyance, causing all passer- byers (I didn't think that was a word but I was making it one) to stare at me like I was a lunatic. Maybe they were psychic or something, because by the way things were going with the terrible trio plus Chouji, I would soon turn into a lunatic.

"What?" Ino simply and innocently asked as if she didn't see anything wrong with checking out every, single, solitary man that walked pass us and ignoring every woman. She was serious about this sexual orientation thing; though I didn't know why she cared so much; that was my problem. "I am getting a jump start on the significant other search."

Significant other, in Ino's world, meant a boyfriend.

I groaned, and the only one who had some feeling of what I was going through was Chouji. He patted me on the shoulder, making sure that none of his prized chips fell onto the floor. "If you say that you are not gay," He began before stuffing his face with chips. "Hook up with some chick. That will sure prove that you're straight."

I raised an eyebrow and nodded. He actually might be on to something –I should start listening to Chouji from now on.

"Naruto, what did I tell you about that plan? We are not looking for a hook up, thank you."

I was so confused. She was looking for someone for me in an airport. I was convinced that Ino had seriously lost her mind.

Chouji gave me a sympathetic look while rubbing his poor head after cursing at Ino. At least he had some sympathy, unlike Ino, Megumi, and Moegi, who were out to ruin my life. Yes, I said it: Megumi. Ino had somehow persuaded Megumi to join her quest to find me a boyfriend, and for some reason, Megumi was even more excited about this than Ino and Moegi.

Two hours had passed and the terrible trio, minus Chouji (he was too busy eating his thirteenth bag of chips. What was up with him and chips anyway?), were still on their mission to find me an unwanted boyfriend…in an airport. I had given up a long time ago trying to tell them that I did not want a boyfriend or a boy toy, because the terrible trio would just laugh in my face and ignore me.

And now after asking about a hundred men if they were gay and/or single, they had forced me to do some "soul searching" for myself.

Well, to me, I thought that this was going to be way too easy. I was going to use Chouji's foolproof plan. All I had to do was find some hot woman who would not mind going on a date with me. Then I could prove to everyone that I was not gay. Also, according to another deal I made with everyone earlier, if I managed to get a date before I board the plane, then the terrible trio could finally get off my back about this whole gay thing.

Now I should put all of my trust in this deal? Probably not. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and currently, I was a very desperate man. "Okay, you guys. I am going to do it."

The traitors cheered me on before I took a long, deep breath then strode towards an attractive woman who looked like the type I could strike a good conversation with. Then right when I was about to make my move, my damn best friend/traitor/therapist had to come along and ruin the moment.

"Naruto, what you do think you're doing?" Ino said, running towards me, leaving Megumi, Chouji and Moegi to laugh their butts off. She scared the poor woman whom I wanted to get with off, while getting some powerful glares from other people. I groaned as the crazy person dragged me away. I didn't know what she was mad about; I was only doing what I was told.

"I was about to ask her out on a date? What's wrong with that?"

"No, silly, you are-" She abruptly stopped, eyes wide, and began to gawk. I gave her a baffled look. What the hell was her problem?

Ino diverted her attention from torturing me to whatever or whoever was behind me. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. What was she looking at?

"We'll talk about this later," Ino quickly mumbled as she made her ponytail was presentable. She fixed her shirt and blouse.

"You're unbelievable Ino."

She shot me a glare and hit me on an arm hard. "Oh keep your mouth shut. There's a man I'm trying to impress."

I rolled my eyes. I should have known that this was about a guy. It was always about some guy. Ino smirked at me –she was on a mission, and boy did I feel sorry for the guy she was after.

I turned to see who Ino was staring at, and almost (almost), blushed. I could see why Ino was making sure she looked pretty; the man she wanted was sort of…dared I say it? Attractive, in a very pretty way. Actually, he looked kind of like a woman with no boobs and a suit. He sort of reminded me of that guy who ruined my life some days ago. He seemed to be one of those guys the fan girls would throw themselves at.

Not that I was attracted to him or anything –because I was not gay.

I was going to leave Ino. I was in no mood to be near when Ino began her "flirting session," especially in the middle of the airport with hundreds of people walking around. But just when I tried to get away, Ino pulled me back. She walked up to him and smiled lovingly at the man with hearts in her eyes.

"Hello, handsome. I'm Ino."

I gave Ino a look.

"Don't mind him," She said talking about me, batting her eyelashes and sending him a seductive look.

However, all of her attempts seem to be in vain. The man kept on staring at me in that freaky way of his. He finally turned his attention to my insane therapist who managed to latch herself on him and slightly growled, "Get off of me."

I needed to act to make Ino stop. Fast. I pushed Ino aside but she pushed me back.

"Look, I am so sorry about…her…you see there is something wrong with her mind and she's crazy." I pleaded and tried to give the best puppy eyed look which caused the man to smirk. I knew I was too old to be doing that, but this was a life or death situation. Desperate times called for desperate measure. "Please don't sue us."

It seemed that he was about to give me another threat, but, luckily, he stopped. He tilted his head to the side than smirked in a way that sent shivers through my spine. What l was wrong with this guy, and why did he look like he wanted to eat me alive?

The man's smirked even more and said, "I remember you…"

Remember me? What was he talking about? He couldn't remember me. It wasn't possible; I didn't think…it was possible. I had never seen the man before. Unless…? No, like I said. He couldn't remember me.

Wait- I knew that look from anywhere! I stared at him (only because I was trying to figure out where I had seen this guy before, not because I had found him attractive because I was not gay) and all color instantly drained from my face.

My jaw dropped.

I wanted to cry.

This could not be happening to me.

Oh damn. It was that man from the club, except he didn't look all that creepy like before (and there was no lip ring). I couldn't look him in his eyes, no matter how much the bastard was boring his into me. I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to look at him. Then Ino would think that I liked him, and prove the point that she tried to convince me since I first told her about that one night stand. I began shaking. I began trembling. I began praying to God that this man would just disappear. Ino lied to me! She said that I wouldn't see him ever again.

"So we meet again."

Ino quickly glanced at me. I quickly glanced at her, paling even more if that was possible. I had no idea what I was going to do now; I was certainly wasn't expecting this.

Ino held her hand up. "Hold the phone, you two know each other?"

"Unfortunately," I muttered, looking away. This would be a good time to find an escape route.

Of course, he would not say anything. Instead, he just gave me another wide, amused smirk.

Damn him and his smirks.

"Oh and who is this, honey?" Ino asked me.

I wondered if it was easier to get away for murder in an airport, but then again it probably wasn't. I would probably get mauled by security guards who would think I was a terrorist.

"I'm Sasuke." Sasuke replied, not once removing his eyes from me.

I groaned in distress as I tried to suppress a blush. I wanted to drop dead. Could I get hit by a plane or something? Maybe I would just run out to the runway and stand in front of a landing plane.

"Even the name sounds hot…" Ino whispered into my ears causing me to blush about ten shades of red. "I bet he would be really good…"

I pushed Ino away from me, "Ino! Get away from me!"

"Sasuke..?" Ino slowly faced me with an evil grin that would make even the Devil himself proud. She must have known from the looks on my face that this Sasuke guy was the one I slept with. I bet she found that out because of the way I was acting. Ino was good at reading people but that was from being a therapist. "Oh wow," Ino said, extending her hand to Sasuke. "My friend here has told me so much about you…"

I didn't know how she didn't know that I was paling or panicking. I might seriously consider sending Ino away to some place where they, I don't know, decontaminate mind readers or something. I could really kill Ino right now.

He raised his perfectly shaped dark eyebrows and smirked in the hot way of his. "He has?"

Wait, what was I thinking? His smirks were not hot! Not at all… I started to blush. What- no! Naruto Uzumaki does not blush because of a bastard who just happened to be…hot!

I smiled sheepishly (or at least attempted to), as I pushed Ino out of the way. Her mouth was open for way too long; soon she would say something that I would deeply regret. Ino gasped out of nowhere then squealed before jumping around us with glee. I had to get away before she unleashed her gay fan girliness on every person in this damn place.

While I was trying, in vain, to persuade Ino to stop prancing around like a fool, Sasuke ignored Ino's antics. Apparently, staring at me as if I was some juicy piece of meat seemed to be more entertaining.

I frowned. Moegi, Chouji and Megumi were nowhere to be found, so I couldn't get saved by them. This was really not fair. Now I was stuck alone with a creepy man-whore-look-alike and my mentally insane therapist (wasn't that an oxymoron?) who vowed to prove that I was gay. I wondered if the right time run away was now. Then I might be able to escape from this insanity.

Ino finally stopped and smirked. "You know Naruto, I have to admit; you have great taste in men." And with that, she ran back to the waiting area leaving me with him.

"Ino! No!"

Ino smirked at me and patted my shoulders in reassurance. "I'll be right back. I forgot that I needed to use the ladies' room. You'll be fine."

Clearly, she seemed to forget that he was the one who made me have sex with him. Well, not really, but still. It was still his fault. He was too hot for his and my own good.

Well, this was going to be awkward.

I didn't care what Ino said, I was not going to be okay. I was never going to be; I was standing in a middle of the airport with the man whom I had a one night stand with, sweating and trembling like crazy. Ino, Megumi, Moegi, and Chouji were not in sight- I bet Ino forced them to hide from me just in case I come running like a chicken without a head.

Sasuke and I just stood there, like fools, not saying one word. I was trying to devise a plan to run away and make sure I would never see him again. I initially thought about running away, but Sasuke gripped my arm so hard, if I tried to do so, my arm would get ripped off.

Although, I was desperate, I wasn't that desperate.

I guess I could also scream on the top of my lungs, but that would create chaos, and there was nothing worse than having chaos in the airport. Also, if I did this, then some smart person would probably think that I was screaming about some bomb, then I would be on TV with Sasuke stroking my hair.

Then my parents would see it and demand an explanation.

Maybe I could talk him out of rubbing my head. Yeah, talking was always a good thing. It was the safest route to go when I was in trouble.

"Look…um Sasuke, as much as I love that you are stroking my hair," I began sarcastically, "Can you not do this in the middle of the damn airport?"

Sasuke didn't pay attention to one word I said. "Where are you going?" He asked while still running his hands through my hair. Did he have a hair fetish or something? He was definitely freaking me out.

"New York," I stupidly answered. I should have lied to him. I should have told him that I was going to some random country in the middle of nowhere so he would never have to find me. Of course, the random country would also have to have a stockpile of ramen.

No- I should not be thinking about ramen at a time like this. I should be panicking! I should be fearing for my life!

"What a coincidence?" He amusingly smirked at my horrified and puzzled face/ "I am going to New York too."

All color instantly drained from my face for the God knows how many time.

Did God hate me? Did he purposely make me go through this insanity because I was a sinner? It was an accident! I knew what I had done was wrong, but I repented it. Didn't that count for something? Of course it didn't because if it did, then I wouldn't have to worry about some creepy man running his hands through my hair.

"How nice," I said.

We were silent for a bit, until Sasuke tightened his grip around my around and titled his head towards the direction of the men's bathroom with a sly smirk on his face.

My eyes grew wide. I knew what he was suggesting, and no, I was certainly not doing it.

"No," I said, not sounding as convincing I should. This was bad, a part of my wanted to pull back but another part, was curious. I hated curiously; it should didn't say anything else as Sasuke continued to drag me to the bathroom.

It was obvious that he didn't hear me, not that I minded- that was strange., Anyway, weren't people here a bit suspicious that someone was dragging someone else into the bathroom? Didn't anyone care?

When a very excited Sasuke roughly pushed me into one of the stalls after locking the bathroom front door, I had gotten my answer. Luckily, we were the only ones in the bathroom- which was quite bizarre since there about five hundred people in the airport.

Sasuke locked the stall door and turned to me with a predatory grin on his face. I began to panic from anxiety. He was giving me that same look from that night, and that only meant on thing.

I groaned to myself. I was right; I couldn't believe I was stuck in the same position yet again. I had to admit, being stuck in a tiny stall with a man who wouldn't stop eye raping me was slightly scary; I couldn't even move.

"Naruto, why are you so nervous?"

Why was he asking me this? He damn well knew why I was panicking. He was planning to molest me in a locked bathroom stall!

Who molested people in an airport bathroom? I knew who did. Sasuke did.

"What do you want?'" I asked trying to make sure that my voice didn't crack. Maybe he wanted money? But that couldn't be it, he looked filthy rich.

"You." He smirked in that evil way of his at me one last time, before placing his lips on mine.

I tried to push him back, but instead, I got pushed again. "Really, Sasuke? You're doing this in here?"

Sasuke retreated, slightly frustrated. "Oh come on Naruto, we already did this before."

I deeply blushed, knowing that he was right. But, so what if we had sex before? We didn't do it in a bathroom in the damn airport.

"But we're in a stall!" I replied, trying to push him off, in vain. "A stall!"

"It's either here…" He paused so that he could continue taking off my shirt. "Or the middle of the waiting area. It's your choice."

I hated him. I hated him so much.

"Fine," I snapped. I couldn't believe I was about to be raped in a bathroom stall…okay, maybe this wasn't rape, but this was sure not consensual- but than what was it called? Oh, it didn't matter, I wanted to get out of here!

"Now was that hard?" He lowly chuckled at my glare. "What flight are you on?" He whispered in my ear while unbuttoning my pants.

"409," I choked out.

"What a coincidence," He said for the second time today, attaching his lips on my neck. "I'm on that plane too."

Of course he was, because everyone was against me. Ino was against me. Chouji betrayed me by agreeing with the evil trio to find me a boyfriend. Maybe I should stop going to church from now on, because no one seemed to be answering my prayers anymore.

Sasuke held me against the wall with one arm and ran his hand down my chest with the other one. "Isn't that nice?"

I opened my half-lidded eyes (it was not my fault that the bastard had magical hands), glared at him, and said in a very sarcastic voice before shutting my eyes again. "That's great."

Saskue ignored me and began to unbutton my shirt. He stopped and gave me an irritated look when I pushed his hands back. "Naruto, you need to calm down."

Calm down. He wanted me to calm down? He was undressing me in a public stall, and he wanted me to calm down! But instead of arguing about how what he was doing was definitely not going to calm me down, I let it go and decided that he could do whatever he wanted with me. It wasn't as if I had any other choice, I was trapped.

"Open your eyes," Sasuke commanded as he began to attack my neck with his lips. He slowly took off my shirt and threw it on the floor –the dirty bathroom floor where it was infested with lots and lots of germs but for some reason, I didn't care.

And I definitely didn't care when he kissed all the way down my chest, only to come back up, barely stopping to suck one on my nipples.

"Oh god…" I moaned as I tried to latch on the stall tiles for support. My insides were tightening as I reluctantly, slightly moaned as he gently ran his hand over my…uh, you know what.

My mind was telling me to push him away or kick him in his prized jewels, but my body kept on responding very eagerly to his touches. My body wanted him; it wanted him bad. I could feel myself getter harder, and boy was I mad. I refused to have another one night stand with him. I refused.

Oh, whom was I kidding? My body needed him. Now.

He kissed my lips again, this time with so much force that I could not help but to release another moan. He chuckled as he put his strong arms around my torso, in an attempt to push me further against the wall. I took the hint, and wrapped my legs around him. I did not know what exactly made me do this, but I was feeling a bit risky. That was something that did not come out often. I did not have random make out sessions with guys I just met less than a week ago, so I was quite unsure of what I was doing. I let him take over.

The feeling that was going through my body was strange. I could not even form words to describe what I was feeling. His body was against mine, his breaths becoming much more erratic by the second; his hands gripping my hips as if he was afraid that I would slip away. He tried to stay in control, but even that was starting to be in vain.

I smiled against his lips, knowing that I had been the cause of this behavior. My pride had skyrocketed, and I was once again feeling risky, but I decided against it. It was more than obvious that he wanted to stay in control. I guessed that I could at least give him that.

He slid his hands down my sides and told me to calm down. His proposal was much easier said than done. I could not verbally respond to him, just physically. I could barely breathe as he intentionally created more friction between us.

I wanted to touch him back so badly, but he put my arms behind my back as he continued his action. I squirmed against him when I felt his hands going up and down soothingly along my lower back.

My pants were getting tighter, and if he did not stop doing what he was doing, I was going to take things into my own hands.

"Don't move. Just feel."

The need in his eyes was clearly evident now. I glared at him for making me feel this way. In response, he smirked back at me. I tried to move out of his grasp, but the attempt was useless. He held me back more into the wall, barely giving me enough room to breathe.

"Relax…" He seductively whispered as he slowly began to unbuckle my belt. I stared at him intently –unable to say anything; my voice was caught in my throat. I knew what was soon going to happen, and from the way he moved, he knew what was going to happen too.

Well, I might as well get this over with- I stared at him with half lidded eyes as he continued to unbutton my jeans. "Just get this over with."

He smirked before pulling my pants down all the way down. "Gladly."

Bang!

My eyes grew with horror, as Sasuke pulled away at the sound of a loud bang on the door.

"Open the door!" Said the voice from outside. Thankfully, the voice got quiet, and I was convinced that the person had left –but that didn't mean my panicking stopped. On the contrary, my panicking got worse.

"Shit!" I quickly pulled my pants up, and hastily put my shirt on. Sure, it was not buttoned, and I might have looked like I just rolled out of bed, but I would deal with that later –I had more pressing issues to attend to. Not being caught in a bathroom with a perverted man who had a hair fetish was one of them.

I pushed Sasuke aside, but he pulled me back to him until our faces were about an inch apart. "We'll finish this later." And with that, he rushed out of the bathroom. I rolled my eyes and tried to pull myself together before leaving the bathroom.

I felt dirty, really dirty. I was disgusted with myself. I could not believe that I was about to have sex in a public bathroom stall –and almost got caught.

I was definitely going to Hell for this.

I peered out of the stall, hoping that no one was there, before running out of the bathroom.

I have decided that I should give the church another chance. Why? Because, somehow, for some miraculous reason that I could not explain, Sasuke and I were not caught –and, to make my life even better, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Of course, when I was walking back to my plane's waiting area, I was getting some stares from people walking by; but who cared? As far as I knew, no one suspected anything, and I knew for sure that I wasn't going to be on TV for being caught in a public bathroom making out with another man.

For once, everything was going my way, until, as expected, I reached Chouji, Moegi, Ino, and Megumi.

Megumi and Moegi tried to suppress their giggles as Ino gave me my boarding pass. I looked down at the pass and groaned in annoyance. Of course, I had a seat right next to the evil witch…though I shouldn't complain that much, at least I didn't have to sit next to Ino or Moegi…or worse, Sasuke.

"Looks like you have to sit next to me," Megumi said with a smirk on her face.

I didn't glare at her as I would usually do. Actually, I guessed I should be slightly relieved, though I would prefer sitting next to Chouji then Megumi. And no, it wasn't because I was gay, it was because I tended to get along with Chouji more.

I sat down next to Chouji and secretly tried to straighten my shirt. Surprisingly, no one questioned my appearance…it was either they didn't notice or they knew what happened but didn't want to say it. I prayed it was the first reason.

"Boarding for Flight 409 to New York City will begin in ten minutes."

"So," Ino began sitting next to me. "How was it?"

I slightly blushed, trying not to give myself away. But I knew it wasn't going to work: Ino was a therapist; she knew how to read emotions. "It was fine…nothing happened."

Ino smirked and patted my shoulders. "Of course it didn't. Of course it didn't."

One hour later:

I had discovered that being thousands of feet above the ground was no scarier than being caught with someone's hand down your pants in a public bathroom stall. Sure, I felt like crying when the plane left the runway. Sure, I felt like throwing up when the plane began having some turbulence, but honestly, it really wasn't that bad.

We had been flying for an hour, and, so far, I was alive. I leaned back in my seat, trying for the fifth time (yes, I had counted) to go to sleep, but I had learned that even though I was almost done with my plane-phobia, I couldn't bring myself to close my eyes for more than two seconds.

"I don't want to wake up dead," I mumbled to no one, but apparently Megumi heard me. She slightly laughed before opening her one of her many fashion magazines. I bet she was trying to critique each and every piece of clothing. She had been trying for the longest time to be a fashion editor, but her husband said that good Christian women should stay home and take care of their family. Of course, Megumi never really listened to what he told her –no matter how important he was to the church.

"I don't know what you're so worked up for. We're all humans, and sometimes we humans need some sex in our lives."

I gave her a confused look. Okay, what on Earth was she talking about? I thought she was laughing before because I thought I was going to die –not laughing because of my escapades with Sasuke. Oh man, I bet she knew all along what happened in the bathroom!

Megumi scanned me and smirked. "And heavens know you haven't been getting any from that whore you call a girlfriend. She's too busy getting boned by greedy, horny men."

Why was she saying this on a crowded plane?

"Megumi, this has nothing to do with my sex life with Sakura!"

Megumi shrugged as she turned a page. "Or lack thereof…" She laughed at my enraged expression. "Hey, look on the bright side, you don't have to worry about getting a sexually transmitted disease from her –you two never had sex."

"She's has a point," Chouji added from across the aisle.

Wasn't he asleep about a second ago?

I hated them both.

"And you don't have to worry about getting a girl pregnant because you're now banging guys." She smirked at me before pinching my cheeks. "Now that I think of it, I think it's so cute that you are gay."

"For the last time Megumi, I have no sexual interest in men."

Oh no, please tell me that I did not just say that as loud as it sounded.

I slowly slid down my seat as far as I could (I was wearing a seat belt) as I felt the numerous confused and horrified looks I was getting from some of the passengers. Chouji, Moegi, Ino, and Megumi laughed. The flight attendants just laughed as they walked by me. I should really kill Megumi for this.

Why couldn't she just keep her annoying questions to herself, and read that damn magazine instead of torturing me? What did I ever do wrong to receive such treatment?

One of the flight attendants stopped and smiled at me with amusement. "Sir, is everything alright?"

No. Nothing in my life was alright. I was now going to have to live the rest of my pathetic life under a rock with a paper bag over my head –with only the lowest level of Hell to look forward to when I die.

Before I could even answer, the evil witch responded, "Oh, he's fine. He just cannot find a way to come out of the closet, if you know what I mean."

The flight attendant blushed, than sadly smiled before saying, "It seems like all of the cute guys are either taken, ego-maniacs, or gay. It's a shame." She smiled smugly at my horrified face. "Call me if you need anything."

I choked out an okay before slowly sliding back up in my seat.

The attendant winked at me suggestively before rolling her cart away.

Megumi laughed.

Did the attendant just wink at me?

Megumi nudged my side and laughed. "I think she likes you…"

"I think I should kill myself."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

I survived the plane ride. I still didn't know how I did it with Megumi next to me talking about how horrible Sakura was, Ino and Moegi talking about how they were going to find me a boyfriend in the largest city in the country, and Chouji whining to me about how much he missed his ex-girlfriend. But I did survive, and I guess that was important.

We took a cab from LaGuardia Airport to our hotel; it taking us three hours to get there, yes three, because of traffic. Unfortunately, we were in rush hour, and according to the cab driver, New York City had the worst bumper-to-bumper traffic in the country. When we arrived at the hotel, we wasted no time dropping our things off in our room only because Ino and Megumi wanted to go sightseeing. I would rather go to bed, not having slept since I left home, but I was forced to come along.

Of course, we didn't need to know where we were going; Ino declared that she was going to be our tour guide. Although she had never stepped foot outside of Utah, we all let her do what she wanted; it was much easier than arguing with her.

"We have to go to Times Square. I mean, you can't come to New York City and not see Times Square," Ino said, reading one of the brochures she got from the hotel lobby. "Oh, and then we can go the Hard Rock Café for dinner."

There were no objections from anyone; most of us were too tired to think about what we should do.

"We can also go on those tour buses, you know, the ones that have two levels with no ceiling on the top." Ino smiled at us before charging towards the reception desk. "That's a good idea!"

"Come on Ino, we can't go on those tour buses," Chouji whined, holding Ino back. "We'll look like tourists."

"We are tourists!"

Megumi, Moegi, and I rolled our eyes as Chouji and Ino argued over buses. Moegi soon left our side to find more brochures, leaving me alone with Megumi, who was now talking on the phone. A few minutes later, she hung up. She closed her phone and put it in her pocket.

"Mom called. She wanted to know if we are okay, and she said that Sakura stopped over last night. Mom said that she wanted to take you back, and that Sakura was sorry for everything. Mom also said that you and Sakura would make a perfect couple, and when you come back to Utah, she wants you to talk about marrying her."

I wasn't surprised about her request. Unlike Megumi, Tsunade loved Sakura. She saw Sakura as a potential wife for me from the moment she laid eyes on her –she even planned our wedding just after our first date. I didn't tell her about what really happened; she would have thrown things out of proportion.

I did not respond to Megumi; I was too busy watching Ino and Chouji go at it. I didn't know what they were arguing about now, but I highly doubted it was about the buses.

"You know," Megumi said also watching the argument, "This might be hard to believe, but Ino isn't out to get you. She isn't intentionally trying to ruin your life. She's like me, a very concerned and protective older sister. She wants you to be happy, and is trying to help you find your happiness –of course, the way she is trying to achieve it may not be the best. But hey, we don't know the future; maybe this is a blessing in disguise."

Blessing in disguise my butt –I appreciated that Megumi was trying to make me feel better (she might be making up from the torture she put me through on the plane), but it really wasn't working. I needed to move to another topic before I became mad at Ino again.

I leaned on one of the columns behind me. "What is this damn seminar about anyway?"

According to Megumi, who "claimed" that she was going to be in charge of the entire trip because she didn't trust any of us, the seminar from hell was not going to start until tomorrow morning. She had managed to find a pamphlet about it in the airport.

Megumi opened one of the pamphlets and skimmed through it. "Uh, it doesn't say, but it is supposed to be one of the biggest seminars this year. People from thirty different countries are coming."

"Who is supposed to be hosting this convention?"

I really hoped it wasn't Anko this time. That woman needed to be admitted to a mental hospital as soon as possible. The last seminar she hosted, she almost got into a fight with someone from the audience for a reason no one knew. Also, she was known to be very passionate during her speeches, and I didn't mean it in a good way.

Megumi continued to read through the pamphlet, then answered, "Well, apparently, the convention is hosted by Kakashi Hatake –oh, isn't he that guy that was voted dad's books' most devoted fan?"

Oh yes, he was.

Kakashi Hatake was much worse than Anko. He was, by far, one of the most perverted people I had ever met. And trust me, having a father who wrote porn books in his past life, I met a lot of perverts. I even met potential pedophiles, like Orochimaru. Okay, maybe he wasn't necessarily a pedophile –he just had an odd obsession with little boys.

And snakes.

And other things that I really didn't want to think about now.

The world might never know how someone like Kakashi managed to become one of the most loved televangelists in the world. Also, rumor had it that Mr. Hatake might be playing for the other team. Now, I didn't know if this was true since I got this information from Ino, who thought everyone was gay. But nonetheless, I was in no mood to hear a pervert talking about the good news.

I stared at my sister in disbelief. "We are going to a convention hosted by some guy who likes to read porn?"

"Naruto, why are you so loud? And yes, we are going to a convention hosted by some guy who likes to read dad's books."

Megumi, for some odd reason, was taking this news much better than I was. I thought it was because she had a huge crush on the man. I didn't know why; you couldn't even see half of his face (Kakashi wore a dark mask that only showed one of his eyes). Apparently tons of women thought that the whole not-showing-my-face look was hot and mysterious. Oh, and also, he had gray hair. Gray hair! According to those commercials, women hated gray hair!

"And you don't see anything wrong with this?"

Megumi shrugged and shoved the pamphlet back in her purse. "Nope."

"You're insane."

"At least I didn't have a one night stand with a man I met in a club."

I refrained myself from cursing my sister out. Why must she keep on mentioning this? I knew what I did; I knew what I did was wrong. She didn't have to keep reminding me about it! I learned my lesson: never, ever, go to a club because your girlfriend cheated on you with one of your best friends. I was never going to make the same mistake again, I promised.

"That was really low," I snapped, earning a laugh from my sister. "And for the record, just because I had a one night stand with some guy does not mean I am into men. I was drunk, possibly drugged." I cradle my head in my hands. "Why can't anyone believe me when I say this? Is it really that hard to believe?"

Just to let everyone know, I had no issues with gay people. Seriously, I could care less if people wanted to be with the same sex: I just didn't want to be gay (or bi, or whatever). I was already a freak show in my town because I wasn't the most intelligent, or religious, or normal person there. I didn't need there to be another reason why the Hyuugas should be the family in power and not us. I knew if my parents thought I was gay (which I had a bad feeling they did. That was why they wanted me to go to this damn seminar) they would probably never talk to me ever again.

Okay, they probably wouldn't take it that far, but I knew I would be a huge disappointment to them.

Megumi, who appeared to feel a little bit bad for me, patted my shoulders and sighed. "I think you're overreacting. No one, except you, Chouji, Ino, Moegi, and I know about what you did. But if you keep on acting like the world is coming to an end, someone with a mouth bigger than Ino's is going to find out and tell everyone –including mom and dad."

"Tsunade and Jiraiya would flip if they found out."

Megumi laughed. "Oh yes, they would." She took out the pamphlet again and began reading it. "I know you're not excited about this seminar; I know I'm not, but we are in the Big Apple, and we can have fun here- even if we are stuck with your therapist, her insane niece, and your best friend who is a living, breathing garbage disposal."

I laughed.

"And anyway, it could have been worse," Megumi continued. "Mom could've made you go to those conversion camps, you know, the places where they force gay people to become straight."

I shuddered just at the thought. I heard horror stories about those conversion camps. I heard it was worse than being in a mental hospital back in the old days. Also that someone would need to be on medication for the rest of their life after going there. I didn't know if they actually existed, or if the rumors weren't true, but trust me, I had no intention to find out.

"You have a point." I smiled at my sister. This was one of the few times that I had a conversation with Megumi without any yelling or teasing.

Ino and Chouji finally decided to calm down –for now, at least. They, along with Moegi, approached us, and Ino immediately spoke, "Well, Chouji had convinced me that taking the tour bus would be a stupid and horrible idea. However, don't think I am giving up just yet," she smirked at our groans, "We will go on those tour buses before we leave." Ino sighed, "Well, I guess we are going to take a cab, then."

"I don't see anything wrong with walking around. According to the cab driver, Times Square is only a few blocks from here," I suggested. "It will save time, and it will definitely save money."

"Wow, Naruto," my sister said. "This is the best idea you've had all year."

I didn't know if I should take that as a compliment or not.

Ino didn't like the idea as much as Megumi; she's so lazy when it comes to exercise. But in the end, she complied. Chouji thought it was a good idea, and Moegi just didn't care; she was too interested in looking through a brochure for Broadway plays to care. I swear, if it wasn't gays or Harry Potter, it was theater. I wanted to walk because I was tired of sitting down. The only time I got up on the leave was to leave and sitting down for so long made my legs extremely sore.

"Alright everyone!" Ino shouted, taking out her map. She refused to go anywhere without a map, even if she was in a place she knew fairly well. She claimed that she got lost a lot and it was always useful to have a map with her everywhere she went. Chouji groaned in annoyance; he thought that Ino looked too much like a tourist. "Let's go!"

Megumi and Moegi were terrified when we walked out onto the sidewalks. Chouji and I were very excited, and Ino was too busy looking at her map to pay attention. I looked around with awe; I had never seen so many people in my life, nor have I ever seen so many cars.

It didn't take us long to reach Times Square. It was around ten o'clock at night, and it was still crowded with people (I could see why this place was called the city that never sleeps). There were so many lights that it appears as if it was day instead of night. There were billboards everywhere and the stores were still surprisingly opened. We passed the Hard Rock Café and the ESPN store, having to pry Chouji away from the huge M&M store.

"We're going to Madame Tousseau's Wax Museum before we leave." Ino declared as we followed her toward Broadway. I heard of that place before. My mother said it was a bit creepy because it had replicas of famous people, some alive and some dead. Soon we turned around to walk toward the middle of Times Square, Chouij taking his camera out the moment we head into Times Square. He took a photo of everything and anything, except people; he didn't want to piss anyone off.

While Ino continued to act like she was a tour guide, Chouji walked around as if he had died and gone to heaven. This was probably the first and last time he didn't mind looking like a tourist.

Megumi and Moegi weren't enjoying New York like the rest of us. They both like the quiet (I knew this was shocking since they were both very loud) and hate being around too many people. They both stayed as close to us as possible, looking terrified at times. I didn't know what they were scared about; this city was simply amazing.

See, I wasn't the type of guy that liked the quiet –on the contrary, I hated it with a passion. I was loud, I wasn't going to deny it, and I was someone who liked have fun, not sit and listen to my father say the same thing over and over again. I hated living in a small town where everyone knew everyone –I wanted to meet different people, not the same ones I knew since I was a baby.

It wasn't long before we all had to stop at one of the food vendors on the side of the block –a certain someone was hungry. I really didn't want to stop, but I did anyway. Ino didn't want to because, apparently, we were on a strict schedule (didn't know where she got that thought from). Megumi and Moegi were too terrified to care. Chouji ordered a hot dog while the rest of us got water. Right when we were about to pay for our things, Moegi shrieked. It wasn't a normal shriek, no, it was a fan girl shriek, and I was surprised that I could hear after that. We all turned toward Moegi as if she had gained three heads. Ino was about to scold at her niece before she too looked up and shrieked.

Great, now we had two girls shrieking.

"What are you two freaking out about?" Megumi asked, slightly annoyed and rubbing her ears. Although she had five little kids that wouldn't shut up, she had no tolerance for screaming.

"Oh my gods, Naruto, that's him!" Ino screamed like a maniac, pointing at something behind me. She got some odd looks from people walking by, but she could care less simply because she was Ino. "That's that Sasuke guy!"

What on Earth was talking about?

We all turned around and stared with awe.

There he was; the bastard was on one of the billboards. The bastard managed to get himself on a billboard at Times Square. If I had a normal life, I would have thought that this was a mere coincidence. A simple, evil coincidence, but I didn't have a normal life. I bet Sasuke found a way to get himself on there because he knew that I was coming to New York, and aimed to drive me crazy. Yes, my friends, I bet he did that.

"Ooh, he's a model!" Ino exclaimed. "Oh god, maybe when you two finally become a couple you can make him take me to one of his fashion shows. Oh, I've always wanted to go to one of those, especially fashion week. I may be able to meet Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors; I love their clothes and…"

Chouji, Moegi, Megumi, and I rolled our eyes as Ino continued to ramble about going to fashion shows. I had no idea what she was talking about –I wasn't going to go out with Sasuke. I wasn't going to even see the man again…well, at least, not in person; I promised that much to myself.

Megumi nudged me on the side with her elbow. "You're one lucky man, Naruto," she said with amusement, ignoring my glare. That woman loved torturing me: I didn't even do anything to her and she was torturing me.

"He isn't a model," The vendor said to us while giving Chouji a hot dog. "He is the co-CEO of the Uchiha Hotel Chain."

I gave the person a disbelieving look. Wow, I did not see that coming. I knew the bastard was rich, well, I thought he was rich because he sure dressed like a rich guy –but a co-CEO of a hotel chain? Why would someone who was second-in-command to a company have any interest in me?

"That's even better," Ino said, clapping. "I bet he is one of the richest people in the world." She turned her attention to me. "Oh man, Naruto, I cannot believe that you…" She trailed off and blushed, "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't think I am supposed to talk about this."

Ino began to get even more excited for no real reason, and asked the vendor, "Do you know where he is right now?"

The vendor gave Ino an odd look, shrugged, and replied in an aggravated voice, "Look lady, I'm just a vendor. I know nothing about Sasuke Uchiha, or where he is." He turned his attention to Chouji. "That'll be two dollars –six for the waters."

Ino scowled and paid for her drink. But did you think that the man's attitude was going to bring Ino's spirits down? Of course, it didn't –it motivated Ino more than ever. And, a motivated Ino was extremely bad for me.

As soon as we left the vendor, Ino immediately talked about her amazingly flawless plan to get me a boyfriend. I really didn't want to talk to her about this, but everyone, including Chouji, who decided to take a break from his picturing taking, was interested in what my therapist from hell had to say. And because of this, I had no choice but to listen to Ino talk about getting me a boyfriend I didn't want.

"Well, since we all know that Sasuke is famous, that means it shouldn't be hard to find him," Ino said as everyone, except me, nodded. "And we know he is in this city because Naruto told us that he was on the same plane as us."

I looked at Ino puzzled. I told her that? When did I tell her that? I groaned to myself…damn, I did tell her. It wasn't my fault; she forced to me tell her what happened when she left me alone with the bastard. I couldn't tell her everything –I needed something to say. Telling her that Sasuke was also coming to New York was much better than telling her what happened in the bathroom.

"So, Aunt Ino," Moegi said. She had that evil, scheming fan girl glint in her eyes. "Are you implying that we are going to look for Mr. Uchiha?"

Ino smiled at everyone and clapped. "Of course we are. We are this close." She emphasized 'close' with her fingers. "To achieving our mission. We can't let this opportunity get away."

Oh, now I got it; Ino was going to hook me up with Sasuke, the same man who gave me nightmares (okay, I was lying since I didn't actually have nightmares about him, but that was beside the point), the same man who got me in this mess. This was all his fault –if he didn't talk to me in the club and harass me about my 'amateur' choice of beer, then I would still be in Utah, dealing with Sakura.

Wait a second, Ino was trying to hook me up with Sasuke! No! No! No! She couldn't do this. Did she know what he would do to me? Oh right, she didn't know; I didn't tell her everything. Okay, so what? She knew that I never wanted to see his face again –I told her that every time she talked about him.

"What do you mean, we're going to find him?" I shouted. No, I was not going to let them do this. So what if I was outnumbered?

Ino was not affected by my outburst; she just brushed me off and said, "Yes we are, Naruto. I think you two make a cute couple. I know you two will –I saw it from the moment I saw him the airport. He was so into you, Naruto."

Ino didn't get it; she just didn't get it.

* * *

I found the bastard.

More like the bastard found _me_.

Now one might ask: how on Earth did he manage to find me in city filled with over eight million people? I would surely love to know that answer. There was only way to understand this; he must be stalking me. I mean, how _else_ was it possible to him not only to travel to the same city as me and be on the same plane, but also be in the same damn hotel?

Ino would tell me that it was all just a coincidence, and it proved that Sasuke and I were destined to be with each other. Coincidence by butt; there was no such thing as coincidence as that bastard was involved.

Sasuke was not supposed to find me. He really wasn't. I wasn't supposed to see him again; I even promised that to myself! I did not understand how this could possibly happen.

Yes, now I truly believed that God was personally out to get me.

And now, because of the bastard's stalking tendencies, I had a date with him in an hour. And, although I should be raging on and on about how horrible this was going to be, I was actually looking forward to it. Not that I liked him or anything –he was a stalker!

Now one might wonder: how did Sasuke find me and pretty much forcibly persuade me to go on a date with him?

The story began three hours ago in the lobby of the hotel I was staying at. I was talked to the hotel receptionist about giving up our room reservations because my friends and I didn't have enough money to pay of them. (Ino had decided that it was a good idea to book rooms in a hotel that we couldn't afford if our lives depended on it. Because of this, we all needed to find a new place to stay).

I had no choice but to talk to the representative; I had lost to Ino and Chouji in rock, paper, scissors. Which wasn't fair. I had nothing to do with this debacle; . I wanted to strangle her when she dropped the bomb. Why would she make us stay at a hotel that we couldn't even pay for? The rates in this place were so high that you had to be a millionaire to have a room.

Speaking of Ino, she and company were outside frantically calling every hotel in the area to see if they had any vacancies. Of course, that was going to be a pain in the butt because this was New York and, according to Jiraiya, hotels filled up very quickly. Ino claimed that she had everything under control. For her sake and everyone else's, I prayed she was to damn city in the first place!

I had been explaining my situation to the receptionist, who I must admit was very pretty but had no interest in me, for the past ten minutes and so far, no progress was made. She kept on talking about credit cards and policies and everything else that wouldn't help me out. Every time I tried to say something, she would give me even more useless information.

After a few failed attempts, I gave up trying to make her listen to me. Because, apparently what she was ogling at was much more important than doing her job. I turned around to find out why the receptionist looked like she had died and gone to heaven, and discovered at that moment that my day had officially gone from bad to much, much worse.

Walking through the hotel doors all high and might as if he owned the place, was the last person I ever wanted to see. It didn't take him long to grab the attention of every single gay man and woman. I honestly thought that they were going to have breakdowns.

One by one, people swarmed around Sasuke. Not only did the bastard have fan girls, he had fan women. Believe it! There were women who were older than Tsunade flaunting all over him. Sasuke did not appear to be fazed that there was a group of people forming around him –he simply pushed them aside and went on his way with a scowl on his face. But did that stop the ever-growing crowd of women and gay men from trying to get the bastard's attention? Of course not.

Some raised their eyes suggestively.

Some blew him kisses.

Some slowly licked their lips, trying to look sexy.

Some began to unbutton their blouses.

Some looked like they were seconds away from having an orgasm.

Some even were brave enough to walk up to Sasuke and give him their names and numbers, while shoving their extremely exposed chests up into his face.

I could not believe that they were acting like this because of him.

Unfortunately, for them, their efforts didn't do them any good. Sasuke was not fazed by any of their advances. It was like he didn't care that he had women asking him to be the father of their child. He was acting like he was too good to be in their presence. Arrogant Bastard. I wished I had dozens of women flinging themselves at me –and if I did, I would definitely not treat them as if they were a plague. I did not know what the bastard's problem was, but if I was him, I would certainly not ignore my "adoring fans."

But I guessed that was how Sasuke operated, like an asshole.

I was going to turn away when a deranged woman jumped at him and tried to take his suit's jacket off. Sasuke merely stepped aside and let the poor woman fall flat on her face. Thankfully, she appeared to be okay, because she kept on shouting Sasuke's name. Sasuke ignored the chanting and simply fixed his jacket, which made his fans go even wilder (if that was possible).

Then, for some reason that I really didn't want to think about, I began staring at Sasuke as if I was one of his fan girls. I didn't know how he did it, but that bastard made straightening out jackets look hot. I widened my eyes at what I just thought. No, I did not think that Sasuke was hot. No, that was not possible. You know why? Because I didn't think of men that way. That was why.

Anyway, because of my past traumatic experiences with Sasuke, I decided that the last thing I wanted was for him to realize that I was here. Of course, since the Lord and everyone else were conspiring against me, I was not too surprised when Sasuke caught me staring at him.

In return, he gave me one of those infuriating smirks.

Damn bastard.

I could literally feel him coming my way. I began to panic, it was not because I was afraid of him, I was just afraid of what he might try to do to me. Call me a coward, I didn't care. I'd rather not be molested in the middle of a hotel lobby with tons of his fan girls looming around. I prayed countless times that my friends would come in and demand that I go wherever with them. But, as per usual, my prayers were not answered.

The receptionist also noticed that he was approaching. She started to straighten up by fixing her hair and shirt. She kind of gestured to me to step aside, and then put a creepily wide grin on her face. I hope she did not plan to attract Sasuke with that smile, because if she did, she was in for a rude awakening. She looked more insane than anything.

She watched his every move, and the only time she removed her eyes from him was to say, "I cannot believe the Sasuke Uchiha is walking over here. Man, he is like sex on legs." She proceeded to lick her lips, ignoring the extremely disgusted look that was on my face. "Damn the things I would do that man."

Based on the lustful look on the receptionist face, I honestly thought that she was going to hop over the desk and pounce in about a nanosecond. Thankfully, she remained behind her desk, but unfortunately continued to tell me all of the "kinky" things she wanted to do to Sasuke. I instantly tuned her out when she began to talk about how she wanted to drizzle chocolate syrup all over his body and lick it all off.

Based on the lustful look on the receptionist face, I honestly thought that she was going to hop over the desk and pounce in about a nanosecond. Thankfully, she remained behind her desk, but unfortunately continued to tell me all of the "kinky" things she wanted to do to Sasuke. I instantly tuned her out when she began to talk about how she wanted to drizzle chocolate syrup all over his body and lick it all off.

Personally, I thought that was way over the top, and I didn't think Sasuke would like that idea. Apparently, he hated anything that was sweet. Please don't ask me how I know this; you really did not want to know.

And I really did not want to think about that.

I decided that I was going to play the "I didn't know that Sasuke was coming here" game. I faced the receptionist, took some form from one of the little stands on the desk, grabbed a pen, and made believe that I was filling it out. I had no idea what the form was about, it was in some weird language I had never seen before, but I didn't matter to me. I had to look distracted at all costs.

I tried not to do anything when Sasuke stood next to me. My eyes remained on the form. My plan did not work as well as I liked –my heart began to race and my hands started to sweat so badly that I couldn't hold the pen right. I instantly knew that this was going to end badly.

The receptionist's reaction was shockingly worse than mine. She really did look like she was going to have a heart attack: She was red from her neck up, and acted as if she could hardly breathe, beginning to fumble with her clothes out of anxiety. She tried to say something, but every time she opened her mouth, the only thing that came out was squeaks –no words. Based on her, and everyone else who were attracted to men's reaction, I knew that Sasuke had the ability to make people look like they needed to be admitted to a hospital immediately.

I also knew that I was the only one who was seriously worried about the receptionist's health –Sasuke just didn't care. He didn't even spare one glance at the poor, hyperventilating, possibly dying woman in front of him. No, his eyes were both on me and, although I didn't turn my head to look at him, I knew he had that dumb smirk plastered across his face.

"M-Mr. Uch-Uchiha…" The receptionist stuttered after gaining some courage. Although she was still recovering from shock that Sasuke himself was standing right in front of her, she sounded much better than before. At least she could speak. "D-do y-you w-ant a-anything?"

Sasuke completely disregarded her because he was too busy staring at me with pure lust in his eyes. He moved closer to me. "Well, well, well, look what we have here?"

God, kill me now…

Pushing back all nervousness that I had, I slowly faced my tormentor. "Bastard," I said, trying to keep my voice steady which was not easy, mind you, with someone standing in front of me looking like he wanted to jump me right then and there. "I didn't expect to see you."

Sasuke did not answer me. Instead, he turned to the receptionist. I was amazed at how his facial expression turned from amusement to annoyance in such a short amount of time. "The owner called and said that you had a problem?"

It took a while for the receptionist to answer. She instantly trembled when Sasuke glared at her as if he wanted her to drop dead. "Yes," She croaked out. "This gentlemen right here wanted to give up his reserved rooms, but I am afraid that, based on policies, he cannot revoke the reservations because he has passed the deadline."

Deadline? I thought. What deadline? She definitely did not tell me anything about a deadline.

Sasuke's attention went back to me. "You're leaving so soon, Naruto?"

The way he said my name sent shivers down my spine. I did not like the way he said it. Not at all.

A part of me said it would be a bad idea to answer his question, but I only responded because I wanted him to stop looking at me like that. It was seriously creeping me out. "See," I explained, "Unlike you, I am not made out of money, and my friend decided to pick out a hotel we could not afford."

Why was I telling him this? Now I sounded like I was some poor, desperate guy. And the bastard was going to tease me about how I couldn't pay for a room. Well, if he thought he was going to get away with teasing me, then he had another thing coming.

Sasuke stared at me for a brief moment before glancing at the still hyperventilating receptionist. "Do not charge him or his guests for their rooms. I will deal with that."

The receptionist and I just blinked. That was all we did –neither of us could believe what we had just heard. Sasuke just volunteered to pay for two rooms that would probably cost at least a thousand dollars. Who did that? Hey, maybe this was his odd way of apologizing for molesting me in a public bathroom.

"Yes, Mr. Uchiha," The woman muttered, giving "what the hell' "look. I returned the look to her. Do not worry receptionist lady; I was thinking the same exact thing.

I narrowed my eyes at Sasuke suspiciously. This sounded way too good to be true. People didn't just pay for other people's rooms like that without a hidden agenda. And, knowing the bastard, I bet he had one. I cleared my throat, instantly getting Sasuke's attention. "As much as I appreciate the favor, why are you doing this? You barely know me. And not to mention- you just paid for my rooms!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, obviously not caring about what he just did. "I am aware of what I have done, idiot, now do the world a favor and shut up."

Oh no, no, no, no….Sasuke I was not going to shut up. Not until I get to the bottom of this-this craziness!

"You can't go ahead and pay for other people's rooms like that!" I shouted, not caring if people could hear me. "Do you know how much that will cost?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You cannot be this dumb." He pointed at the hotel name that was on the desk. "This is the Uchiha Hotel; my brother owns this place. I am the co-owner of the hotel; I can do anything I want, including give rooms away for free." He glared at me. "So shut up and be grateful."

I couldn't believe that I was admitting this, but he was right. Why was I complaining in the first place? If anything, I should be bowing down and thanking him with my life. Of course, I would never bow down to that bastard, but still. I should be grateful, but on the other hand, I was, and rightfully so, extremely skeptical about this act of kindness. Sasuke wanted something; the question was what.

"So, are you saying that," I began, trying to figure out what was going on. "My friends and I can stay here without paying a dime?"

Sasuke just glared at me.

The receptionist didn't know what to say, not that I blamed her.

"Okay, now I see. You think I am stupid don't you?" I ignored Sasuke's look of surprise. I was on to him. "I know what you are doing, bastard, and I don't like it one bit. You want something in return, don't you? That's the only reason why you are giving me these rooms for free. Don't lie and say you aren't, because I know you are."

"Actually, I was feeling generous today, but since you have mentioned it," Sasuke said with a mischievous glint in his eye. He leaned onto the desk, not once removing his hungry eyes from me or my body. "I guess you can pay me back."

I really did not like the sound of this.

"I'm not having sex with you again." I blurted rather harshly without thinking. I needed to learn how to think before I speak because now Sasuke looked like he was about to burst into a fit of laughter, and the poor receptionist nearly suffocated (you might think that this was impossible, but she somehow found a way to prove all of us wrong).

I could feel my face turn red.

"Although doing that would be nice," Sasuke replied, fighting back any laughter that was threatening to come out. "I was only going to ask you to meet up with me later on tonight." Sasuke smirked. I didn't think that he realized that he was eye-raping me in front of one of his fan girls. "But if you insist…"

"We're not having sex," I state again. "Fine, I'll meet up with you tonight, but only if you promise not to molest me again."

The receptionist choked.

Sasuke scowled. "Molest you? When did I ever molest you?"

And he had the nerve to call me dumb.

He damn well knew what I was talking about. But, for the welfare of the receptionist's health, I was not going to remind him of what he did. She might die on me, and then I would get arrested for indirectly murdering someone –chances of going to heaven completely gone.

It seemed that I didn't have to explain anything to Sasuke; he already knew what I was talking about. His evil smirk came back. "If I recall, I never raped you during those times. All I did was simply take advantage of a situation that was presented to me."

Had I mentioned how much I hate Sasuke?

Of course the bastard was saying all of this in front of the hotel receptionist, who was holding her nose as if she was trying to stop it from bleeding. I wanted to ask if she was all right, but Sasuke might grope me or something if I did not keep my full attention on him.

Sasuke did not wait for me to respond. "Meet me at the cafe on this floor around ten. And I know this may be hard for you due to your lack of brain capacity, but do not be late."

And then the bastard disappeared without saying anything else.

Three hours later, I was standing outside of the Uchiha Hotel, still in shock of what happened. I didn't tell my friends, who were currently screaming about something I couldn't catch. I needed to process everything. It wasn't much to think about: Sasuke gave us rooms for free, and, in return, I have to go "meet with him," which really meant a date.

Ino was going to have a field day when she found this out, and Moegi might just faint.

It took a good five minutes for everyone to calm down. When they noticed that I was standing near them, they all gave me an expectant look. I shrugged and got my bags. Maybe I should I move them into my room now –before I get too lazy. My friends stared at me with confusion, and Ino was the first one to speak up.

"Naruto, what happened? Can we get a refund? I sure hope so because we need that money."

"Oh, don't worry about finding a new hotel. We can still stay here."

No one said anything.

I sighed. Maybe I should explain myself more. "I got the rooms for free."

Once again, not a peep from anyone.

"It's actually a funny story," I continued, though I personally did not think that the story was anywhere near amusing. "Sasuke, you know the guy we saw on the billboard? Well, his brother owns the hotel and Sasuke offered to take the tab."

Not one word.

I groaned as I dragged my bag through the doors ."Come on you guys. Don't just stand there; we need to reclaim our rooms." I smiled at Ino, who was standing in the same spot –frozen. "Oh and Ino, you will be so proud of me. I took your advice and found myself having a date- though I'm not looking forward to it but-hey."

Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that bit to her –especially after she jumped on me, congratulating me with hugs and kisses- but for some reason that I couldn't understand, the thought of going somewhere with Sasuke didn't sound so appalling to me anymore. And I did not like this new feeling, not one bit.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

I had no intentions on going on this date. I really didn't. I honestly thought that I could escape from Sasuke and his evil schemes. I honestly thought that if I didn't show up at the café on time, he would leave me alone and get the hint.

I honestly thought wrong.

The moment after Sasuke left me earlier in the hotel lobby, I had concocted this amazingly wonderful plan: I would simply not be in the café at ten, and sit back and watch TV while eating my lovely ramen for the rest of the night.

The plan was going so well (I even found a way to distract Ino and her minions by telling them that there was some concert in Times Square) until around eleven fifteen at night when I was startled by a loud knock on the door.

Now that I was thinking about it, I really should have just ignored the knock and continued lounging around on this soft sofa that probably cost more than a luxury car. Because if I didn't open that door, I wouldn't be sitting in front of Sasuke in this stupid café now.

Anyway, after pushing about five empty bowls off my lap, I rose from the couch, grumbling about annoying people, and opened the door. It was at this moment that I knew that I officially landed in Hell –in front of me were two men dressed in black suits who looked like they were from the Secret Service. Their hands were folded in front of them, and they were both staring at me. I wanted to make a run for it, but from the serious look on the men's faces and the fact that they could rip me into shreds, I complied with whatever they wanted.

And that was how I ended up sitting across from Sasuke in this damn café. I couldn't believe that the bastard would send his own bodyguards (I guessed someone had to protect Sasuke from his vicious fan bases) to my room to fetch me like I was some animal. So what if I had whisker-like marks on my face? They were from a car accident, and that didn't mean I was some pet! Just who did he think he was? Oh, when I got my hands on-

"Idiot, can you stop day dreaming?"

I glared at the source of all of my recent problems, who, sadly, looked nice- Oh how it pained me to admit this. "Shut up, bastard, and I wasn't day dreaming.'

Sasuke let out a sigh, as if he felt sorry for me. Well, I guess you cannot help that you are dumb…"

I didn't understand how someone could insult someone throughout an entire "If you insult my intelligence one more time…"

Sasuke, being that bastard he was, did not care about my weak threat. "I must say that I am quite stunned that you can use the word intelligence in a correct sentence."

I wanted to shout a comeback, but I couldn't think of something good. Sasuke must really be a sick bastard if he thought that the best way to flatter his "date" was to insult him, or tease him, or pick on him, or…you got the point. The way to someone's heart was not by throwing insults at them. Not that I want Sasuke to get to my heart, because that would be just wrong.

I glanced at Sasuke. I didn't think I would ever understand this man. What did he see in me? I was nowhere near rich and, according to him, I was one of the noisiest and most annoying people he had ever met. And, based on the fan girl incident earlier today, Sasuke could get any girl or guy he wanted.

(Ino claimed that he could make a straight man go gay and of course, she used me as an example. Chouji said that her claim was incorrect since, as a straight man, he wasn't attracted to Sasuke. This led into a hour long argument that almost got us kicked out of the Hard Rock Café).

"Sasuke," I asked while debating with myself if I should ask him this question or not. I didn't want his body guards to body slam me. "I don't want to assume anything , but are you a homosexual?"

The body guards, who were sitting at the next table, tried and failed to hold back their laughter, but they instantly stopped all attempts when Sasuke turned his head to give them his best icy glare. They both quickly apologized and got into a random conversation about baseball.

Sasuke slowly turned his head to me. I was beginning to sweat because I thought he was going to give me the same glare. I knew I shouldn't be terrified of someone's glare, but if the bastard managed to shut two huge body guards' mouths, it must be bad.

Oh Lord, I knew I shouldn't have asked that question. Some people got really defensive when people asked about their sexual orientation. Heck, I was one of them.

"No," Sasuke said with a trace of sarcasm in his voice, giving me a less intense glare. "I only go on dates with men for the hell of it."

"You could have just said yes! Sheesh!"

The bastard rolled his eyes. "The question should really be, are you a... homosexual?"

Oh, I truly hated that bastard. I didn't know what I should say. I couldn't say I was really straight because straight guys did not have one night stands or make-out sessions in airport bathrooms with other men even if it was not their faults. I couldn't say I was gay, because, you know why. Not to mention, I was still attracted to women. I couldn't even say that I was bi because the only guy I was attracted to, though I really didn't want to admit this, was Sasuke.

I shrugged and honestly responded, "Uh…well, I don't know. Not really. I have only dated women."

Sasuke did not say anything. He picked up his fork and began to eat something that I could never afford. I didn't know what I was; they were black ball-like things that in actuality were more like tiny marbles. I continued to stare at whatever they were, trying to come up with a name for them. I gave up in less than a minute and just asked Sasuke. "What are you eating?"

"Caviar."

I had never heard of that before, but that was probably because Tsunade never let Megumi and me eat "exotic" food for some reason. Of course, her rule didn't apply to her. She always ate foods that were expensive.

"Cavi-what?"

"Caviar. It is a French food." He glanced down at his plate. "They are really fish eggs."

My nose scrunched up in disgust. Fish eggs? Why would anyone want to eat fish eggs? Who served fish eggs at a café?

Although I thought what Sasuke was eating was disturbing, I didn't tell him. Tsunade said that food was food and we should not insult it. Speaking of Tsunade, Ino, being that big mouth she was, called her two hours ago and said that I was going on a date with someone rich, and now Tsunade vowed to plan the wedding. Now, personally, I didn't know how that was going to work since I was on a date with a guy, but I didn't press on the issue.

I had to fight the urge to embarrass myself by banging my head on the table –I couldn't believe that I was on date with a man who had more money than seventy-five percent of the population back at home. God really hated me; there was no other reason for this torture.

It wasn't that I didn't like Sasuke. If he didn't molest me every time he saw me, I might have been friends with him. It was just that this was so weird. Not long ago, I was going on dates with Sakura and random women for blind dates.

Since I now realize that there was no way I was getting out of this –especially when Sasuke's body guards were near- I might as well make the best of this night, starting with some small talk. Small talk was always good, it made things less awkward.

I leaned back on my chair, making sure that I didn't fall back. "So Sasuke, what are you doing in New York City?"

Sasuke stopped eating and answered, "I should ask you the same question. You do not seem like someone who travels a lot."

Was that supposed to be another insult?

"Hey, answer my question first!" I shouted. People from other tables looked my way and whispered to others. Sasuke was about to say something, most likely an insult, until he completely froze. Color drained from his face (once again, I didn't think this was possible because the bastard's skin was almost the color of computer paper). Sasuke stood up and slapped two hundred dollar bills on the table and his body guards went into body guard mode.

Of course, I had no idea what was going on since no one was telling me anything. Oh man, it was all my fault. Maybe Sasuke grew tired of me and wanted to leave before I embarrassed him. I guessed I should be glad about this since that meant that he would leave me be, but for some reason, I began to feel bad. Seriously, I didn't know what to say on dates. I haven't been on a real one in a long time, I completely forgot-

I shook my head. There was no reason to try to justify myself. I was going to ask the bastard what I did wrong, but Sasuke beat me to it. "We have to go _now_. They're here."

I know this might be shocking, but I swore I saw fear in Sasuke's eyes. I glanced around the café looking for someone who looked suspicious, but I didn't see anyone.

"Who's here?" I asked. Then all of the sudden, Sasuke's answer was drowned out by a large noise that sounded like a herd of elephants –and it was getting louder and louder. People in the café began panicking; some left without paying, and others looked like they were trying to get under the tables.

"What on Earth was that?"

Before I could ask anything else, the bastard grabbed my arm and ran out of the place, fast. The body guards were following close by. I tried to get out of his grasp, but it was to no avail; he had me in a death grip and it appeared that he wasn't planning to let me go anytime soon. Sasuke finally stopped at the elevators, and immediately pressed the up button. When the elevator door opened, Sasuke roughly pushed me inside. I tried to rush out of the elevator, but it was too late, as Sasuke and the body guards came inside the elevator, the bastard quickly pressed the close door button.

This was terrific.

I was too scared to ask anything. I was standing in between the two body guards, and Sasuke was at the other side with his arms crossed and a mean scowl on his face. He must be in a bad mood. Right as we passed the fourth floor, my confidence came back, and I decided that this was a good time to ask why I was pushed into an elevator against my will.

"Can someone explain to me what is going on?"

"The paparazzi are here," Sasuke angrily muttered, his expression changing from panic to aggravation.

I raised an eyebrow; that couldn't be possible. They couldn't make this much noise at this time at night. And anyway, how did he even know they were here? I bet he could smell them. Or maybe he paid someone to be his lookout. I heard that some rich people actually hired people who could tell when the paparazzi were coming. This would be very useful for Sasuke since he wasn't much of a people person.

"I bet Karin told them that you're back in New York," The body guard on my left said.

The one on my right nodded in agreement.

Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms even more.

I wondered who this Karin person was.

No one said a word until the elevator stopped at the last floor. I thought for a moment about letting the three men leave before me, then quickly closing the elevator door before they could notice that I was not following them. I decided against it; that wouldn't be too nice since Sasuke paid for my food (I had a delicious Reuben melt with large fries. Apparently, the café was too "high class: to serve ramen).

The body guards were the first to exit the elevator, followed by Sasuke, then by me. I had no idea where I was heading. As I looked around, I realized that this must be a private floor, because it certainly did not look like the floor my room was on. The walls were bare except for some random paintings here and there that appeared to cost more than I got in my paycheck. Everything was white: The carpet, tables, chairs, doors, everything. How someone could get a room this clean was beyond me. We past some maids who were heading to the elevators; this was when I noticed that the body guards were gone.

When Sasuke stopped in front of one of the doors (as far as I knew, there were only five), I asked, "Sasuke, where are your body guards?"

Sasuke took out a pair of keys, put it in the lock, and opened the door. "They went home," he said in a un-Sasuke-like voice. This was definitely not a good sign. Every time his voice was like that, it meant major problems for me.

The door opened wide, and Sasuke walked in. I looked around the floor, contemplating if I should follow him or not. A part of me said that I should run back to the elevators and go to my room as soon as-

"Idiot, instead of standing out here looking like the complete fool you are, why don't you come inside?"

Why did that bastard keep interrupting my thoughts?

I glared at Sasuke, who was leaning against the door frame. He didn't look as irritated as he sounded. "When will you stop calling me an idiot?"

"When you stop acting like one," Sasuke answered, taking my hand. "Now come on, I don't have all day."

I snatched my hand away, "Hold your horses bastard, and why do you want me to come inside hunh?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, took my arm again, and dragged me inside, despite my very loud objections. Unfortunately, there was no one else on the floor, so no one could rescue me.

My nervousness jumped up ten-fold when Sasuke closed and locked the door. I thought about jumping out of the window to escape anything that Sasuke planned to do, then I realized that I was on the twenty-first floor. If I jumped, I would be dead. I might not like being around Sasuke at times, but it was not enough to commit suicide.

"What is wrong with you?"

I reluctantly turn in Sasuke's direction. I shook my head. "Nothing. Nothing really. Sasuke-"

"If you are going to ask a stupid question, which will probably be the case, please keep your mouth shut," Sasuke snapped. "Sit down. We have to stay here until the paparazzi leave. Unfortunately, someone told them that I was coming to this place."

I did what I was told. I thought about escaping but the door had so many locks it would take me forever to get to the other side of the door. I shot a glance at Sasuke, who was at the mini-bar pouring two glasses of wine. It was not long before he came over to me and gave me a glass. I took it, although I was not supposed to drink –Tsunade, and virtually every woman back at home, thought that alcohol was a devil's gift, and that we should stay as far away from it as possible. Although Tsunade was the head of the church's temperance movement, she was really a hypocrite. She didn't know that her children had found her hidden stash of sake in the basement.

Sasuke sat down next to me, my heart rate increasing like every time he moved closer to me (I didn't want to admit why because I was not gay). I seriously needed to calm myself down before I scared Sasuke away with my panic attacks, though he didn't seem like the type of guy that got scared easily –unless it had to do with the fan girls and the paparazzi.

Sasuke was the first to speak, "So what are you doing in New York?"

I sighed with relief, and placed the wine glass on the glass table in front of me. Thank god Sasuke was trying to start a conversation, I was tired of sitting in silence.

"I'm here for a church Seminar." I said with as much enthusiasm as I could. Lord, you did not know how much I didn't want to go to the seminar, especially since Kakashi, of all people, was hosting it. I might not come out of that place in one piece.

"Ah," Sasuke said before taking a sip from his glass. "There will be a seminar like that right here tomorrow."

I nearly choked on air –Sasuke must be joking. I mean, seriously, what were the chances that the seminar I was going to was the same one he was talking about. I laughed to myself; I was scaring myself for nothing. It could be a business seminar. Or even better, something had that nothing to do with religion.

"Why are you going?"

I blinked at Sasuke, and let out a nervous laugh. I needed to stop thinking to myself so much when I was around other people. "Because Tsunade and Jiraiya, my

parents," I clarified. "Think I'm gay, and because of this, they are convinced that I need the Lord to come back into my life." I groaned. "Trust me, I don't want to go."

"You cannot get out of it?"

I shook my head. Oh how much I wished I could, but, unfortunately, since that damned Kakashi, who had an odd obsession with Jiraiya's work, was hosting it, he would definitely tell the "most amazing writer in the world," if he didn't see me.

"No, if there was a way, I would have found it already."

Sasuke moved a bit closer to me. I tried to act like I didn't notice what he was doing, but it didn't work. All of the sudden, the temperature rose. It only took a couple of more advances from Sasuke and rising heart rates for me to wish I could dump myself into an ice cold pool. I unbuttoned the two buttons of my shirt quickly so that Sasuke wouldn't catch me –I didn't want him to think I was about strip in front of him; who knew what he would do. It was getting so hot in this place.

It became even worse when Sasuke proceeded to run his hands through my hair, I shuddered. My body was sweating, and I'm pretty sure it isn't healthy that Sasuke was causing me to respond like this just from running his hands through my hair.

"Who are those people you were with?"

Sasuke upgraded from simple strokes to a full-fledge head massage, and it felt amazing. I leaned my head back, closed my eyes, and breathed, "My sister, my best friend, my therapist, and her niece."

"Hn."

I glanced at Sasuke who seemed to be really into massaging my head. "Do you like New York?"

"It is okay."

I lifted my head up before Sasuke harshly pushed it back down. I guessed his massage didn't end until the bastard said it did. "Just okay? This city is amazing."

"Of course you would so, you are a tourist."

"I know this may sound a bit cliché, but I fell in love with this city the moment I stepped out of the airport. It is so different here from home; I don't slow-paced places. I mean, there is nothing wrong with them, but they're not for me." I smiled. "But New York is perfect."

"Only because it's loud like you," Sasuke said before I could think of a comeback. "What do you do for a living?"

Was Sasuke playing twenty-one questions without telling me? Not that I minded or anything, just as long as he kept his hands on my head.

"I work at my town's newspaper company. I only do small stories because my boss doesn't think I have enough experience." I sighed as I remember my boss preaching to me about being a rookie. "I didn't always want to be a journalist; when I was a kid, I wanted to become the governor of Utah just to show people back home that there was more to me than being the local prankster. But for now, I may put that dream on hold. I don't like the whole political game –I think being a journalist will be easier and less stressful."

Sasuke nodded while moving his hands to a different side of my head. "If you want to be a journalist, stick to the major cities, not small towns. They have more recognition. In all honesty, I think you should stay in New York. You can work for the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal."

I blinked. That was the longest sentence I had ever heard from Sasuke, and he didn't insult me. I was shocked that Sasuke was so interested in me. People normally thought my life was boring because Sakura was draining all of the excitement out of me. Exhibit A: Ino had thought that until Sasuke incident number one. I had no idea where she got that idea from, my life with Sakura was perfectly fine until I found her screwing my ex-friend…but that wasn't the point.

"That may not be a bad idea."

Of course, Tsunade would throw a fit, and Jiraiya might beg me to stay so he wouldn't have to face the wrath of Tsunade. Megumi might not want me to go since I was her primary baby-sitter. Chouji might tag along with me –and Ino would definitely tag along, and claiming that she had no choice since she was my therapist.

"Not a bad idea at all. But isn't New York expensive?"

Sasuke's hands stopped making love to my head and their owner stared at me for a bit before moving several inches away from me. Damn, I had said something wrong again.

"It depends where you live." He stood up and walked to the bar to pour himself a second glass of wine. After he finished, he turned around and leaned against the bar, staring at me with intent. "Why did you go to the club that night?"

I didn't bother asking him why he wanted to know. I really didn't want to talk about what happened at the Twilight Club. I would be happy if I didn't hear about it for the rest of my life.

"I caught my ex-girlfriend cheating on me with my ex-friend. I needed to do something to ease the pain." My voice dropped, "But I guess that didn't work."

I didn't miss the faint smirk on Sasuke's face.

I sat up straight on the coach. "Enough about me; tell me about yourself. I don't know much about you except you don't know how to keep your hands off of me, and you are an heir to a hotel chain."

Sasuke ignored the last part of my comment and drank some wine. "What do you want to know?"

"Anything."

"I have an older brother."

I rolled my eyes. Trust him to tell me something I already knew. "I know that already."

Sasuke took a deep breath. Maybe he wasn't the type of person that liked talking about himself. "My parents are taking an extended, life-long, vacation on a remote island in the Pacific. My father couldn't handle the pressure of running a company he started."

"Will they ever come back?"

Sasuke shrugged and shook his head. "It does not look like it. But it doesn't bother me; I was never close to them."

I didn't miss the resentment in his voice. He was lying, but I wasn't in the position to pry. I was lucky to get this much out of him. Maybe I should get off topic.

"You know, you didn't have to pay for the rooms."

"Are you still thinking about this?" Sasuke snorted and walked back to the couch. "I swear, moron, if you keep mentioning the rooms, I'm going to revoke my offer." He couldn't be that irritated with me because he restarted my head massage. Maybe I should tell him to stop before it got completely out of hand, or maybe I shouldn't. It wasn't like anything was going to happen.

"How does that feel?" He asked after unfortunately heard the moan I made when his hand moved lower, right above my neck. He was driving me insane just from this. I wondered if Sasuke knew this. He probably did, and being a sadistic bastard, he was enjoying every moment.

Wait a second, was Sasuke indirectly seducing me?

If he was, he was doing a great job. I couldn't stop my eyes from focusing on Sasuke's lips. Was it wrong that I wanted to feel his lips on mine? Of course it was. I needed to stop this massage for real. I lifted my head as best as I could, but Sasuke was holding it down."

Sasuke," I pleaded, not believing that I was reduced to this. "Please, I need you to stop."

As usual, Sasuke did the complete opposite of what I wanted. His hands moved to my shoulders, which "persuaded" Sasuke that he should move even closer to me.

"Now why should I do such a thing?" He asked huskily. He was literally an inch away from being on my lap, and, because my brain thought it was a terrific idea to not work, I couldn't do a damn thing about it. "You need to stop denying what you want, Naruto."

I gulped. I never wanted Sasuke to say my name ever again. I had realized something, when Sasuke used my real name instead of 'idiot,' it was an indication that I should stay as far away from him as possible.

I knew that he was right. There was no point in denying it anymore.

I hated hormones: Just as much as I hated Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura –perhaps even more, since Sasuke's face was leaning over mine. And then I did the most horrible thing today, I began to slowly lick my lips. It wasn't my fault, it was Sasuke's! I swore it was. Alright, I needed to stop freaking out. Just one kiss. We would share just one simple, quick kiss. That couldn't be too bad, and it could possibly settle my hormones that were currently having a field day.

Some of my brain's ability came back. It didn't help me with getting away from Sasuke, but at least it could make me speak again.

"Why me?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and came even closer; one more move, and our lips would touch. "Has it ever occurred to you that I may found you interesting?"

I groaned; that was a bad. I didn't know what was coming over me –just days ago, I wanted Sasuke and everything about him to be erased from my memory, and now I was moments away from locking lips with him. I jerked my head back and moved to the far end of coach.

I quickly glanced at my wine glass. I bet the bastard drugged my drink again; like he did that night. Yes, it completely explained everything. Why? Because there was no way in Hell I was lusting for him.

Sasuke did not seem to mind my sudden change in behavior; he shrugged as if nothing was about to happen. He took another sip of wine, and I groaned in disappointment. Damn it, he didn't drug my drink because I watched him pour the wine, and it was from the same bottle. I needed to leave this place as soon as possible, before I go insane or worse, finish what Sasuke and I started in the airport bathroom.

I glanced at the watch on my wrist. Thank the Lord, it was already close to one in the morning (time sure went by fast). I couldn't stay here long, not if I wanted to get to this damn seminar on time. Why couldn't it start at a more reasonable time like, I did not know, ten in the morning?

I stood up from the couch. "I've got to go. Thanks for the dinner and the wine, but the seminar starts early, and if I don't get enough sleep-"

"I understand," Sasuke refused to look at me. "When is the seminar over?"

I shrugged, heading to the door. There was no time for small talk; I had to leave right now.

"I don't know…probably around five in the afternoon. I can't see it ending any later than that…but then again…"

Sasuke didn't respond immediately. He took a pen out of his pants' pocket, walked up to me, grabbed my hand, and wrote his number on it. He leaned his body closer to mine. "Call me when you are finished," he whispered into my right ear.

I just weakly nodded. Oh, leave me alone, it wasn't my fault that my brain decided to shut down for the second time tonight. Seriously, whatever Sasuke was doing to get me like this had to stop right now.

A few seconds passed before my brain let me use my legs for walking purposes. I unlocked the door, which took me about a good minute, opened the door, and was about to go into freedom, until the bastard held me back.

"We will finish this. I do not know when, but we will."

My shoulders slumped. And just when I thought I would be free from this torture. I nodded and walked out, and, only because a part of me knew he was right, I didn't doubt that Sasuke would find me again. I knew because he was a bastard who wouldn't leave me the hell alone.

"Oh, and one more thing," Sasuke said, holding his door in place. A huge, wide smirk was plastered on his face. "I highly recommend that you fix your little problem before you go into the elevators. It may cause some eyebrows to rise."

What was he talking about? I had no problem. The only problem I had was him! I couldn't believe he not only "forced" me into his apartment, and tried to kiss me multiple times, but he wrote his number on my hand without warning me. I was about to yell at him and call him a bastard, until I realized what Sasuke was talking about.

I slowly looked down with horror.

Oh crap, I'm hard.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

So I didn't go to my hotel room last night.

And before anyone starts playing the blaming game, I just wanted to say that this was not my fault.

Even if the stuck-up bastard "claimed" otherwise.

How was I supposed to know that I was going to run into the paparazzi the moment I stepped foot into the elevators?

I wasn't psychic. It wasn't my problem that Sasuke was famous and everyone and their mother wanted to take photos of him and I thought the paparazzi problem was solved already. He should have a damn restraining order against them! Damn them. Someone should put a leash on them.

And, much to my horror and to Sasuke's happiness (though his version of happiness was definitely not normal), I was stuck inside the bastard's penthouse suite until… well, until the paparazzi decided to stop being creepy and go away. It was around six o'clock in the morning right now, and they were still going at it. As usual, I was the only one who was freaking out about this. Sasuke was just acting all cool as if he didn't notice that there wasn't a group of people outside, waiting for him to come out.

Was I the only person who thought there was something seriously wrong with this situation?

So, since I was stuck here until Lord knew when, I might as well tell you what happened. About several hours ago, I was moments away from leaving and completely forgetting that my pants were getting tighter, when Sasuke offered to solve my issue. Of course, I began yelling at him, calling him a pervert and whatnot, then I left for the elevators.

It was at that moment when things turned for the worse. As soon as I got into the elevators, I saw about five guys, with cameras around their necks, looming around the hell. I glanced at Sasuke, whose face, for the second time today, looked like the shade of paper.

"Why are there photographers sneaking around?" I mouthed to him.

Before Sasuke could say anything back, he rushed to the elevators before the doors closed, grabbed my arm, pulled me back into his suite, and slammed the door before the photographers could attack. I nearly jumped out of my clothes when I heard a loud bang on the door followed by chants of Sasuke's name. Sasuke pushed me out of the way so he could lock his door. Now I knew why he had about five zillion locks; it was because of crazy people who thought it was a good idea to hunt down people at this time of night.

Sasuke slowly retreated from the door. His breathing increased, so did the amount of sweat he was making. I walked up to him, took his hand (but only because I feared for his health. It was not anything romantic. I swear!), and asked, with concern, "Sasuke, are you alright?"

The bastard completely forgot to fear for his life so he could glare at me. "I have the paparazzi standing right outside my door. How the hell do you think I feel?"

I backed away from the angry Uchiha. I decided that I was never going to ask the bastard about how he felt for the entire time I was with him (which wouldn't be long since I would be leaving this city in two weeks).

While I was trying to stay on Sasuke's good side (not that I was scared of him or anything but he did look like he wanted to kill someone), I remembered that I still had a little problem down south to deal with.

Unfortunately, none of the chants had solved the issue in my pants, so I locked myself (thank the Lord that it was an inside lock, I really did not want the bastard sneaking up on me) in the bathroom for about a good ten minutes. While I was in there relieving myself, the fan girls' cries were getting louder and much more disturbing. I did not know what was worse, having to fix my little problem Sasuke's penthouse bathroom, or listening to the paparazzi pathetically beg Sasuke for a picture.

I took back everything I said about wishing that I was famous. I didn't want to get stalked. It had to be almost one in the morning when I was in the bathroom, and they were stilling shouting. Didn't people know how to go to sleep? Weren't there tons of places in New York City that were open?

When I strolled out of the bathroom and back into where I was before, Sasuke was sitting down on the coach with his eyes still on the door. He did not seem to be affected by what was happening on the other side. I supposed he was used to this stuff. When he noticed that I was out the bathroom, he gave me a feral smirk and patted the space next to him. I glared at him. There was no way in Hell I was going to sit next to him –the last time I did, I got a head massage so good that I got hard (first of all, I didn't know that was even possible. Maybe there was something wrong with me).

The bastard simply shrugged when I not-so-nicely declined his invitation. He turned to me. "You may as well find yourself a seat; you are going to be here for a while."

I groaned and asked God what I did wrong to deserve this fate. I knew I should have stayed in Utah. Sure, I would be stuck with Tsunade, the reigning queen of death threats, and Jiraiya, who was still convinced that his wife was out to him (word on the street was that Jiraiya had to miss a few sermons because he thought that Tsunade was going to interrupt his sermons with a 44-caliber. Poor perverted old man, he should have known not to mess with Tsunade), but it would be much better than being stuck in a penthouse suite with a man who did not know what personal space meant.

According to my watch, it was already one-thirty in the morning and that was way past my bedtime. Although I was extremely exhausted, I had no choice but to force myself to stay awake. The last thing I wanted was to fall asleep and wake up tied to Sasuke's bed naked. And because of my fatigue, I had become determined to find a way to get out of this place so I could fall on my nice, soft, hotel bed with no Sasuke near it.

I turned to Sasuke. "I can't stay here too much longer," I said. "I need to be at the seminar by eight."

"Which is less than seven hours away..."

"Well, I still need to go." I looked around. "Why don't we use the fire escape?" I asked, going to the window and pulling up the blinds. I gasped in disbelief when I saw some deranged woman, trying to pick her camera up. I did not want to know how she managed to get outside a window on the top floor of a hotel. I looked up; well at least she couldn't fall; she was hanging from a bungee rope. Did these people have lives? I gave the woman a "what the hell" look before pulling the blinds down. I turned to Sasuke. "Um... I guess that threw the fire escape idea out the window."

"It's not worth it trying to find a way to get out. Trust me, I tried it before. Didn't work out too well."

"Can't you call the police?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "This is New York City, idiot, the NYPD has more important things to do than to come here to deal with them."

He might have a point.

"Okay, what about your bodyguards?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I would be shocked if they showed up..." He sighed. "I foolishly sent them home because I did not think that the paparazzi would come here at this time of night."

Believe it or not, I sort of felt bad for the bastard.

Sort of.

One hour passed, and we were still stuck in this damn room. I had to give it up to the paparazzi, they were sure determined. The banging and the yelling did not stop. I didn't know who to hate more, Sasuke, who gave me a hard-on at the most inopportune time and would not stop winking at me, or the paparazzi, who wouldn't go away and would prevent me from going to the seminar that I had to attend.

Sasuke was reclining in his super expensive lazy boy, sipping on some wine. His eyes turned to me. "Sit down, idiot. Standing there is not going to make them go away any faster."

"Shut up bastard. I can do whatever the hell I want." I crossed my arms and pouted, shooting Sasuke a mean look. "Are we ever going to be able to get out of here?" I really hoped that he would say yes, because I did not want to explain to everyone that the reason why I could not go to the seminar was because I was trapped in a room with the same man who had made my life so much more complicated.

Sasuke gave me an incredulous look. "Calm down, idiot. It's not the end of the world." He glanced at the shaking door. "At least not yet..."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

The bastard acted like he didn't hear my outburst as he walked to the window and raised the blinds. He scowled at the crazy woman who was still trying to get her camera. As soon as she began waving, Sasuke brought the blinds down. "Well, that was unexpected," he muttered way too calmly. "I am surprised that she has not fallen already."

I sat back in my chair. I was kind of getting bored. Sasuke didn't help; he was too busy pacing around the room. There were no TV, no magazines- the only thing that appeared readable was the papers on the table, but they looked like things that would get me killed if I even glimpse at them.

Because I had nothing else to do but sit around and pray that I would be set free soon, I got up, slowly approached the door, and looked through the peep hole. I immediately wished I hadn't when I saw what was going on the other side of the door –there had to be at least fifty people camping in the hallway. Yes, I had said it; camping. They had blankets, food, and pillows. Pillows!

I highly doubted that Sasuke and I were going to come out of this room anytime soon.

I quickly ran away from the horrible sight. Where on Earth did these people come from? Were they a part of a cult or something? Normal people did not camp outside of other people's rooms. That just wasn't… normal! I faced Sasuke with a grim look."

I can't believe this shit." Now I wasn't the type of guy that cursed much (Tsunade had told me numerous times that cursing was for people who wanted to be thrown into the hellfire), but damn, this was way too much for me to handle. "They're camping in the hallway."

Sasuke growled.

I was going to yell at Sasuke for having being famous but then my phone in my pocket vibrated. Oh great, it was a text from Ino, and it was probably about how badly she was going to kick my butt. I reluctantly opened the message when I saw that it was indeed from my therapist. It read, "Where the hell are you? We've been looking all day 4 u! Get your ass in the lobby now!"

I was shocked that she didn't mention ask how last night went, that was, until I received another text. "Oh and what happened on the date? Did u do anything?"

I attempted and failed to hide my blush. I quickly texted her back before the bastard could notice, "No! Save me! I'm stuck with Sasuke in his room bc of the paparazzi!"

I was pretty sure that Ino had the ability to fend off those people, .if she didn't think this situation was a joke, which based on her next text, she did. I stuffed my phone in my pocket and sighed –it looked like there was nothing Sasuke or I could do to get out of this room in one piece, or better yet alive. Maybe I should the bastard's advice and sit down.

And I was in that same chair for the next, I didn't know, five hours. I was pretty sure that my legs went numb right after the third hour. I didn't think I would be able to stand up for a long time.

Okay, back to the present. Sasuke and I just finished having a very awkward hour long staring contest. Of course, I lost, but that was because I was distracted by the non-stop door banging. It seemed like the staring contest calmed the bastard down a bit; he was not hyperventilating anymore. Now he was just scowling.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the bastard, since there was nothing else to do. I was very tired, but I couldn't bring myself to go to sleep. This time it wasn't because of the bastard –how could anyone sleep with all the yelling and banging going on? I cradled my head in my hands, trying to tone out the screaming. It didn't work. Two weeks, I kept on telling myself, two weeks and I would be out of this city, and out of the bastard's life, forever.

"Why are you staring at me?"

My eyes widen and I turned away. Crap, he caught me now, he must think that I liked him or something, which I didn't. Well, at least I didn't think I did…Gah! Damn bastard, why must he make me question myself?

I crossed my arms, refusing to look at Sasuke. "I wasn't staring at you," I muttered. "You are enjoying this aren't you?"

"Maybe, maybe not..."

I stood up (instantly regretting doing so because now my legs felt like they were being stabbed), and shouted at Sasuke, who had smug look on his face. "You know what bastard? I take back everything good I said about this city. You are making me hate New York more by the second!"

Okay, so maybe this was not necessarily true, but he didn't have to know that.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really, you're the reason why I don't want to be in this city anymore. Thank God that I'm out of here in two weeks!" I smirked at Sasuke's startled face. "Yeah, bastard, two weeks and I am gone!" For some reason the thought of that didn't sound so appealing anymore, but this was not the time to figure out why my mind had been acting up ever since I got into this damn room…even if every word that just came out of my mouth was a lie except for the two weeks part. I really was only here for that long.

Sasuke stared at me for a while, rubbing his chin with his hand. Then he smirked. "I see. Well, idiot, since that is the case, I have a proposition for you."

I raised an eyebrow. Well, this couldn't be good.

"What proposition?" I asked, not knowing if I should be worried about this or not. From experience, when the bastard usually had a proposition, it meant bad news for me.

"You are leaving in two weeks right? Well, I will make you a proposal; actually, it is more like a deal. If I cannot persuade you to stay here in New York by the time you leave, then I promise that I will never pursue you again."

Hey, that didn't sound like a bad idea but I narrowed my eyes, trying to find out if he was lying to me or not. This sounded way too good to be true. The bastard was after me ever since that night at the club –there was no way he was going to let me go like that unless he had a plan that I needed to find out very soon.

I continued to search for his motives with my eyes. "You're kidding me, right?"

"I'm an Uchiha, I do not joke around," He continued before I could open my mouth. "But let me warn you, Naruto, I am an Uchiha; I always get what I want."

This man just wouldn't give up!

For some reason, he seemed to be extremely confident. He must really think that he could make me stay. Well, sorry bastard, but your deal wasn't going to work! Like Hell was he going to persuade me to stay here; just his presence alone made me want to jump on the next plane heading to Utah. I didn't care if he was an Uchiha, I didn't care if countless women and gay men would kill to be in my place, I didn't care that I wouldn't mind making out with him one more time (did I just admit to that); I was going to keep my butt in Utah, and I planned on staying in that state for the rest of my life.

Take that bastard!

Sasuke rose from his seat and approached me, forcing me to back up into the wall. I had no idea what he was planning to do, but from the evil glint in his eyes, I knew this wouldn't end well. He stopped when he was about a foot away from me, and stared. I didn't say or do anything because one, my brain decided to shut down once again thanks to all of the yelling that was coming from outside the room, and two, Sasuke was getting closer to me by the second, causing me to focus on finding ways to slow down my heart rate.

Which, let me tell you, wasn't going as well as I wanted.

Sasuke decided to help prevent me from having a heart attack by stopping right when our faces were inches apart. He smirked and ran his hands down my arms, and I bit my lips. No, no, no, this could not be happening again. I wanted to run away from him, but there was not much I could do since my back was against the wall. My horrible hormones were quickly making an appearance again, and I was definitely not appreciating this. I thought I had calmed them down back in the bathroom, but, unfortunately, because fate hated my guts, they were back, and it seemed like they were here to stay.

His hands moved to my shoulders and squeezed them. "You know idiot, you are a very expressive person. I can tell how you are feeling just from the way you move, the way you speak…the way you look…You give away what you desire so easily." He leaned to my ear. "I highly suggest that you give in before you make yourself insane."

"You're the one who is making me insane," I breathed out, and I instantly regretted admitting that; now the bastard knew I wanted nothing more but to kiss him. Sasuke smirked at this and leaned in for another kiss. I swore to God, Sasuke must love torturing me and ignoring every objection I threw at him.

"Sasuke," I said, pushing him away. "You don't get it, I need to be at the seminar in less than two hours." But did that mean that the bastard would let me go on my way? Of course not, because that would make too much sense. Damn bastard.

"Chances are that we won't be able to get out of here for a long time," Sasuke said, quickly looking at the door that was getting abused by insane people's fists. "So we may as well buy some time, which from what I see, will not be a problem for you..."

I glared at him. "You don't know what you're talking about," I snapped. I wanted to sound really angry and hide the fact that I contemplating if I should start ripping the bastard's clothes off but that just wasn't possible when I was facing someone who had blood lust in his eyes. "I don't want you."

"You are impossible." Sasuke let out a defeated sigh. Maybe he finally realized that I would not, under any circumstances, have sex or anything with him again, "Alright, since you are being a stubborn idiot, I'll make you an offer, if you let me fuck you, you can top afterward."

The only thing I could do was blink. A few times, actually more like several. There was really nothing else I could do or say; my brain had given up on me a long time ago, and the bastard just offered me to screw him after he did the same to me. What was I supposed to say? Yes?

Sasuke wouldn't even let me answer before he grabbed my chin and kissed me. I moved my lips against his, deciding that at this point, there was no chance of me getting out of this kiss. My brain shut down for the third time, and this time, it probably wouldn't start working again for a long time. The hormones were having a party, and perhaps, after Sasuke stopped kissing me, they would go away and never come back.

Unfortunately, life and fate didn't like me that much. Why? Because when Sasuke thought it would be nice for me to breathe again, my hormones didn't go away. Oh no, just one kiss wasn't enough. I wanted him bad; I wanted his hands against my skin; I wanted to scream his name over and over again.

Sasuke positioned his arms on either side of my head while sporting that maddening smirk. Damn it, he knew I liked the kiss. His eyes moved up and down my body before locking with my eyes. "Have you ever gotten a blow job?" He asked softly while moving his hands from the wall to my hips, and unzipped my jeans.

I nearly choked. Was he seriously asking me this? My damn hormones were nodding very happily. I wasn't going to tell Sasuke that I didn't really know what a blow job was, although I had a good idea what it was –it sounded like a word that people my age should know.

"N-no…"

"Of course you haven't…" Sasuke muttered, pulling the zipper all the way down. Just when I thought that he was going to leave this extremely awkward subject and situation alone, he continued, "Why I am not surprised?"

I felt like kicking Sasuke all the way back to- I didn't know, Japan! Instead, I did the next best thing, yell. "I don't go around accepting blow jobs, you bastard!"

Sasuke did not reply. Instead, he raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and continued to make my life hell and my hormones very content by continuing to get me out of my pants. And, because my mind is currently not operating, I couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Sasuke stopped trying to pull my pants down for a moment, looked up at me and rolled his eyes. "Only finishing what we had started in the airport."

How he could think about that when there were tons photographers looming around was beyond me. Maybe this could be added to the long list of why the bastard was a creep –along with his creepy love for running his hands through people's hair, and stalking poor, innocent men.

"Now stop talking and cooperate with me," Sasuke ordered, pulling my pants all the way down my legs. "I don't do this often."

I simply obeyed and watched my pants drop to my feet, followed by my boxers. I thought of telling Sasuke about how much of a bad idea this was, but from the determined look on his face, I highly doubted that the bastard would care. I just leaned back on the wall and let Sasuke do whatever the hell he wanted with me.

"Ready?"

I looked down at the smirking Sasuke. "W-what?"

"Never mind."

I sucked my breath in and rolled my eyes to the back of my head when the bastard put his lips on my legs. His mouth ran down my inner thighs before he trailed his tongue back up. I honestly thought, right then and there, that I was going to come, but, much to me and my hormones' misery, he stopped.

Sasuke glanced up and asked in a voice that makes my legs turn into jelly, "You like that, don't you?"

Oh God, yes I did.

The bastard took my cock into his hand and began pumping it. At first he started out real slow, but when he noticed that I was enjoying his actions far more than I should, he sped up, and it was driving me crazy. All the willpower that had kept me from screaming out vanished.

"Sasuke…" I moaned out, pushing my back farther against the wall.

Sasuke looked up and smirked, "Looks like you are enjoying yourself."

"Oh, shut the hell up," I shouted, well attempted to shout back, as I tried to stand up straight. My breathing was becoming more erratic, and I didn't want to know how fast my heart was beating. My insides were getting tighter, and that feeling that almost made me lose it back in the airport bathroom was coming back…

Right when I felt like I was about to explode, a familiar jingle caused all movements to stop. I looked down at my pants. Damn phone. Sasuke let out a frustrated sigh and let me go. I lowly growled and bent down to take out the phone from my pants' pocket. Oh, it was Megumi. I thought about picking it up for a moment, but, from the really pissed off look on Sasuke's face, I thought it'd be better to just leave it alone.

Sasuke scowled at the phone in my hand. "Turn it off or put it on silent."

I turned my phone off and put it on the table next to me –it was easier than putting it on silent. Sooner or later Megumi et al would think that my phone was dead, and they would stop calling. As soon as I stood back up against the wall, Sasuke continued his actions.

He glared at me while running his fingers up and down my cock. "Don't pick up that phone until we are done; understand?"

I weakly nodded –I would have shouted at him, but his fingers felt way too good for me to mess the mood up, "Yeah," I mumbled as tried to regain my breath, which wasn't easy to do when I was seconds away from coming. I would admit, this would've been the perfect time to end all things, but my hormones were raging wild, and the bastard most definitely looked like the prime target. "You know bastard," I breathed out, causing Sasuke to fix his eyes on me, "I wouldn't mind taking up that offer."

Sasuke just blinked up at me, slightly confused. "Which one?"

"The first one."

Sasuke let out a small laugh; looking at my fully-erected penis and smirking. "It's about time you came to your senses."

And with that, he did something that completely made me forget, for a brief moment, that I shouldn't be doing this with a man.

Hah...

Sasuke had plenty of bad qualities like being a bastard and an asshole and emotionally stunted but damn, he knew how to make up for it when his mouth was involved.

My God, that _tongue_.

"Ahh… Sasuke…" I breathed out, panting. I was trying to so hard to suppress that unbearable feeling, growing I my stomach but man, it was near impossible to do when the bastard's mouth felt like a hot, wet vacuum.

I must admit, if the bastard did this that night, then things might have turned out differently.

What was I saying? Of course nothing would have turned out differently. I still would have hated the bastard, and the fact that he couldn't keep his-

Oh _damn_.

I needed to hold onto something.

Fast.

My hands found their way into Sasuke's hair and grabbed it hard as they could. I didn't care that the bastard made a small, painful croak, and shot me one of his signature glares. That was what he got; he had business giving other men blow-

"Oh God-!" I threw my head back against the wall behind me, gripping Sasuke's hair even tighter. I let out a low guttural moan as Sasuke pushed even deeper, my cock touching the back of his throat.

Damn Sasuke's hot, talented mouth. Damn it and its owner to Hell.

Sasuke slowly drew back his mouth. His tongue swirled around my tip before he swallowed me whole again.

"Fuck, don't stop…" I panted as Sasuke's bob began to speed up. God, this felt so amazing. I promised that I would forgive every horrible thing that bastard did to me as long as he kept on going. And then, he, that horrible asshole, suddenly stopped all movements, looked up at me and grinned.

He knew how to grin? Since when?"

"I see that you're enjoying yourself."

"Shut up!"

Sasuke gave me a wide smirk before continuing whatever he was doing. This was horrible. I shouldn't be enjoying this. I should kick the bastard and find some way to get out of this room. But I couldn't- my traitorous body wouldn't let me. All it wanted him to do was suck harder and faster.

My hips decided to gain a mind of its own and thrust into the Sasuke's mouth. His mouth tightened around my cock and sucked so hard that I almost came right then and there. My knees stopped working ; my legs were about to give out; my pants were becoming louder. This was definitely one should not experience while standing up.

God, this felt _so_ good.

It wasn't long before I completely lost it… inside Sasuke's mouth. I thought that Sasuke would pull away as soon as my hips began thrashing erratically, but he didn't. He was there until the very end, when I screamed out his name so loud that the paparazzi probably heard me. I looked down at the bastard, just to him slowly pulling out with-

Did he do what I think he just did?

Oh dear God.

I could only stare at Sasuke stunned, I didn't know what to say- but that was most likely due to the fact that I lost my voice. I couldn't believe he did that. He didn't seem to mind that he just swallowed someone's release. He gave me a wicked smirk and slowly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. And much to my discontent, that was one of, if not, the hottest sights I had ever seen.

As soon as he stood up, Sasuke pulled into a kiss. I had no choice but to ignore the fact that I basically tasted _myself_. The kiss was slow and passionate. My arms wrapped around Sasuke's neck as I let his tongue enter my mouth. He might be a bastard, and I definitely could not stand him, but god damn, he could kiss.

"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke asked against my lips, and then his mouth moved up, with his tongue slowly trailing along my neck.

This was not the time to ask questions. My response was only a small gasp as I let Sasuke remove the remainder of my clothes. I hoped he wasn't expecting an answer; there was only so much one could do when someone was making love to his ear with his mouth. This was wrong. I couldn't tell you how many sins I had committed just from being the bastard; I could tell that the priest and I were going to have a _long_ talk when I went to my next confession session.

Sasuke took a step back. He stared into my eyes- and of course he sported one of those annoying smirks- the entire time while he began to take his shirt off. I couldn't help but watch him. Lord, I felt so pathetic. My eyes were glued to Sasuke's well-defined, pale chest, and my mouth started to water. Do you believe this? I was getting turned on even more just from witnessing the bastard strip off his shirt- although, in my defense, it looked more like a striptease more than anything.

God, he was so sexy…

Without thinking, I took a step towards him. I ran my hands down his bare chest and began unbuckling his belt as soon as I reached his waist. I pulled his boxers down. He leaned over, placing both hands on the wall behind me. It didn't take Sasuke long to grab me by the hair and drag me into another kiss. I moaned as Sasuke moved his lips against mine. As soon as his lips left mine, he grabbed my hips, hard, and grinded them against his. I bit my lip as I tried to force down a moan. Sasuke's hands roamed down my sides and he latched his lips onto my collarbone... and bit it.

"What the hell!" I pushed Sasuke off. "You bit me!"

Sasuke shrugged as if he thought that there was nothing wrong with biting another human being, "You're very observant, moron."

I was going to call him a bastard and yell at him about how normal people did not bite other people on their shoulders, but then said bastard decided to harshly rub his erection against mine. Needless to say, all ability to form words died. He stopped and began trailing kisses down my chest. With the little energy that had not drained from me yet, I covered my mouth with my hands. I hated being vocal; Sasuke, being the bastard he was, of course, loved it when I made noises.

He stopped attacking my chest, looked up at me slightly frustrated, stood up, and removed my hands from my mouth. "Don't do that. I want to hear you."

My legs wrapped around him, pulling us closer together. He glanced down at me before sealing his lips with mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck as we deepened the kiss, Sasuke only letting go for a brief second so he could get a condom and lube from one of the drawers. He tore the package open with his teeth and gave it to me, "Put it on," he breathed out.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. I thought that I was- never mind, why would I be complaining about topping. I shrugged, took the condom and put it on-

Sasuke punched me on my shoulder.

"Own!" I shouted, rubbing my shoulder. "What the hell is your problem?"

Sasuke with a scowl on his face, snatched the condom from my hand. "Not on you idiot."

I blinked.

_Oh_.

Well that was embarrassing.

Why couldn't he just tell me that like a normal person? He didn't have to hit me like that! And how was I supposed to know that he wanted me to put the condom on him? I didn't have sex with guys- that one time didn't and shouldn't count, so it would make sense that I didn't know about these things. I glared at him and crossed my arms. I was not going to admit that I was mistaken by what he meant,."

I knew that; I was just testing you."

"Of course you were." Sasuke quickly glanced at me before putting the condom on. "You're such an idiot."

"And you're a bastard! See? We're even."

"Hn," Sasuke picked up the lube was about to pour on his hand until I stopped him. I held my hand out. "Give me the bottle."

Sasuke gave me a suspicious and questioning look as he slowly handed me the lube. I could practically hear what was going through his head. Don't worry bastard, I was wondering the same thing myself.

I opened the cap and poured some gel on my fingers. I didn't know why the hell I was going to do this –the bastard sure didn't deserve it. He was indirectly going to be the reason why I was missing the seminar. I placed my lube-covered fingers on Sasuke's penis, earning a startled cry from him.

This was awkward; I had never gave anyone a hand job before- or even touched a guy's dick- so it was normal that I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Sasuke seemed to be enjoying this; His eyes were shut, his breathing became short, and every time I moved my hand, he tried to fight back a moan.

"Bend over," Sasuke ordered.

I let go of him and leaned over the table. Although this was definitely not the most comfortable place in the world, I was so out of it that I could care less. I turned around just to see Sasuke pouring some lube on his fingers. I raised an eyebrow, okay, why was he doing this? I got my answer when the bastard flashed me a wicked smirk. My eyes widened –it didn't take an idiot to realize what the bastard was planning to do. He couldn't be serious, right? I meant, I knew he was, but…what?

I turned my body the best I could so I could glare at him. "You're not going to-"

"I need to prepare you."

Prepare me? Prepare me for wh- oh…right. But wasn't there some other way to prepare me besides putting a finger up my butt? Although I was definitely no expert at sex, I was sure there was some other, potentially less painful and disturbing way, to get ready for sex.

Right?

"I don't see what the problem is," the bastard continued as he put the lube aside and place his hands on my butt. "You were fine with this last time."

"I was drunk!"

Sasuke didn't reply, but I could feel him rolling his eyes. Sasuke slowly caressed my back with one of his hands while he shoved a finger in with his other. My body instantly tensed and I bit down on my bottom lip. I definitely didn't remember doing this. I tried to shoot him another glare while adjusting to the intruding finger. The bastard probably just lied to me so he could get his way.

Sasuke stopped pushing in and moved his finger inside me. "You need to relax," he said. I could tell he was slightly frustrated. But that wasn't my fault. He shouldn't be fingering me!

"You're shoving a finger up my butt and you're telling me to relax?" I snapped. My eyes widened when I felt another finger near my hole, "Shit, Sasuke, wait a second…"

Once again, Sasuke ignored me. I winced as he put a second finger in. Seriously, I just told him to wait. He was such an asshole. God, this was becoming uncomfortable, and the hard table I was leaning against was not helping at all.

Then his fingers brushed up against something that made me scream. Some of the pain started to fade away after a while. I let out small whimpers as his fingers stretched me out. Sasuke suddenly stopped and mumbled something under his breath. I let out a disappointed groan when Sasuke slowly pulled his fingers out. I lifted myself up, putting all my weight on my bent arms.

"I think you're good to go," I felt Sasuke hands move up from its previous spot and grabbed my hips. He spread my legs apart.

"You're ready?"

I nodded. I just wanted to get this over with. My cock and my hormones didn't feel like cooperating with me, so the quicker Sasuke did what he had to do, the sooner I would be relieved. My eyes shut and I whimpered as he pushed his member inside me. It wasn't as painful as the first time, but it still hurt. Nothing happened after that, Sasuke stood still for no apparent reason and just held a death grip on my hips.

I hated when he did this.

I pushed back on to Sasuke, trying to force him to move. This resulted in Sasuke accidently grazing against my prostate, "Come on, Sasuke, hurry up," I gasped desperately. I hated sounding desperate, especially in front of bastards like Sasuke, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Little Naruto was hard again, and if something wasn't done about it, I was going to go crazy.

Of course Sasuke, who did not have one sympathetic bone in his body, chuckled, still not moving. He leaned over me and whispered seductively in one of my ears, "I want to hear you beg."

I groaned.

He could not be serious.

Beg? Naruto did not beg for no one… except God, but I didn't think that counted... or maybe when Tsunade decided to unleash her anger out on anyone who was in an one mile radius, but definitely not for Sasuke. Just who did he think he was?

"Sasuke!" I snapped trying to more pressure onto him. My attempts did not work; he was holding my hips too tightly. "Move damn it."

"Not until you beg,"

"I'm not begging!"

"Well I'm not moving…"

I dropped my head. Ugh, damn him. Now I had to reduce myself because the bastard was a sadist who liked it when people beg him. As soon as we were done with this, I was going to kick his ass all to the way back to where he came from. Believe it!

I sighed with defeat, pushed aside whatever pride and dignity I had left and…begged in a low voice for Sasuke to screw me. But was that enough for Sasuke? Of course it wasn't.

Sasuke slapped my butt rather hard, and said in a husky voice that made me trembled. "Come on, idiot, you can do better than that."

I was going to kill him. I mean, sure it was a mortal sin, but since I was going to Hell anyway thanks to the bastard, killing him wouldn't change my fate in the afterlife.

I turned my head and gave the bastard a long, hard glare. Sasuke just smirked back. I couldn't believe he was making me say this. I cleared my throat, trying to push my hips back, "Ugh bastard, just fuck me alre!-"

Whatever I was about to say turned into a scream as Sasuke quickly pulled and slammed into me. Sasuke grunted as he slowly pulled out of me, just to enter me again with even more force, keeping the pace slow.

"Ahh Sasuke…" I moaned. I begged Sasuke to go faster. This time, the bastard didn't ignore me like he usually did. His thrusts and panting started to become more erratic, I stopped trying to keep up with his thrusts.

I couldn't stop moaning. No matter how much I tried…with every thrust I ended up shouting something. Sasuke was no better –I could hear Sasuke breathing out my name, telling me how good I felt. It was getting harder and harder for me to remain leaning on my elbows. I screamed even louder when Sasuke hit my prostate.

My arms finally gave out. My body started to tremble. Sweat was coming down my face. I knew I wasn't going to last long, and Sasuke's pants were definitely not helping. He added more pressure on my back with his hands, pressing down as he continued to mercilessly screw me. I wasn't going to lie, this was starting to become more painful, but as long as he kept on hitting that spot, I wasn't going to complain. I gripped both ends of the table so hard my knuckles went white.

"God, yes…"

At this point, I didn't care that there were people still banging on the front door, or that I was going to hell for doing this, or that I was supposed to be at the seminar. The only thing I cared about was Sasuke pounding into me like no tomorrow.

Everything else could wait.

What happened during the next several seconds was a blur; all I knew was that after a couple of thrusts, I screaming Sasuke's name so loud, I thought I lost my voice for good. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe –I barely noticed the white stuff that was running down my legs. I felt him stiffen behind me as he dragged out a groan. Then Sasuke collapsed on me. I was so spent that I didn't even bother trying to get him off of me.

We stood this way for the next couple of minutes, then, somehow, I found myself sitting on the table with Sasuke's arms wrapped around me. He sighed against my neck while slowly running his hands up my torso. I leaned onto him even more. Have I ever mentioned that he was very good with his hands?

"Shit, Sasuke…" I panted before Sasuke dragged me into passionate kiss. Just as things were starting to heat up again, there a loud crash from outside, followed by an ear-piercing screech. Sasuke, sadly, stopped kissing me, and we both looked at the door, then at each other. He shook his head, "Those damn people are getting on my nerves," Sasuke grumbled. His eyes locked on mine as his mouth changed from a scowl to a smirk.

"Ready for round two?"


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

I couldn't believe I had sex with him again, _twice_. And the scary part was, I didn't feel nearly as disgusted, ashamed or traumatized as I did before. This was not a sign; this was _definitely_ not a good sign.

I glared at the bastard- I didn't care what anyone said, this was entirely Sasuke's fault. If he didn't seduce me, then none of… _this_ would have happened.

Not to say that I regretted having sex with him, because I didn't… well, at least my body didn't…

Forget I said that.

Anyway, after getting over my initial shock that I willingly participated in sexual relations with the same sex _again_, I got off the table and quickly put on my boxers- much easier said than done due to the fact that my butt felt like it was on fire.

Curse the bastard. Curse him to Hell. Speaking of the one who would prevent me from walking like normal person for a long time, he was sitting on the floor with a wide smirk on his face. I glanced back at him while putting my pants on. "I hate you," I said, slightly wincing in pain. I wasn't used to this type of activity. "I hate you so much."

Sasuke, being the smug bastard he was, smirked and stoop up. "No, you don't."

Just who did he think he was?

He couldn't tell me if I hated him or not. He didn't have the power to tell me how I felt- okay, maybe he was right. Maybe I didn't really _hate_ him, but I definitely didn't like him. My life (not to mention my butt) was going perfectly fine until he came along and screwed (and yes, I meant literally) it all up. I

I tried not to look at the bastard as he was walked to the mini bar, but it was impossible to do since Sasuke had unofficially declared himself as a nudist.

"Bastard, could you at least cover yourself?"

"Now why would I want to do that?" Once he saw the slightly disturbed look on my face, he scoffed, shrugged, and put on a robe that was conveniently lying around.

I gave him my most sincere thanks. There was an uncomfortable silence until Sasuke spoke up. "If you want to clean yourself…" Sasuke trailed off and stared at me, "You know where the shower is…"

Actually, that wouldn't be such a bad idea since I had spilled myself all over my legs.

I nodded and rushed to the bathroom. I cleaned off my chest, and washed my hands, then leaned over the sink once I was done, staring at myself: My face looked flushed, loves bites were all over my neck and shoulders, my hair was more unruly than usual, and my lips seemed to be bruising (no surprise there), but, although I did look like a complete mess, I was definitely sporting that annoying, stupid, after sex glow.

Damn that bastard, now Ino and company were really going to know what happened.

I turned on the facet and rinsed my face with warm water. I kind of wanted to stay in this bathroom –I didn't want to face Sasuke. It would be way too awkward. I mean, what happened after you had sex with someone? I couldn't just leave, because not only was that rude- and Naruto didn't do rude, no matter how bastardly the person was, but the paparazzi was still going strong outside the penthouse door.

Man, they were persistent.

I decided that I should stopping acting like a two year old and face Sasuke like a man even if this moment would be one of the most awkward moments in my life. As soon as I walked out of the bathroom, all of my courage just flew out of the window –I didn't know what to say or what to do.

"Hello," I pathetically mumbled. Sasuke didn't show any signs that he heard me. He was sitting on the couch looking through some of the papers that was on the table in front of him. He didn't seem to notice when I came out of the bathroom…or maybe he did, but he just wanted to ignore me.

Maybe I should start a conversation. Yeah, that always worked. But how do you start a conversation with him? Especially after what we just did?

I slowly and carefully approached him, quickly sitting down on one of the couches adjacent to him. "So how do you plan to make me stay in this city?" I asked, eying him suspiciously. I had to watch out for Sasuke –he might try to make me have sex with him again. You never knew what would happen with that man.

Sasuke looked up from the papers and gave me a startled look. I guessed he hadn't really thought about that. Not that I cared or anything, because I had no plans to stay here. None at all. I was just curious and had to be prepared for what Sasuke was about to do, in case I had to plan an escape route all the way back to Utah because Sasuke was sending his minions after me or something. You never know what the bastard might plan. He made his guards kidnap me from my room for a date –who knew what he would do to make me stay in New York?

Sasuke walked up to me. "I do not know yet, but you will be the first to know when I figure it out."

"I don't want to know."

That was obviously a lie, but Sasuke didn't have to know that then he would think that I was interested in him, which I wasn't.

Sasuke cupped my face with his hands before he brushed his lips with mine. This time I didn't freeze or back away-I would give myself a pat on the back for not acting like a nervous wreck, but that would look too childish. The bastard smirked against my lips. "You're not pulling back…" he muttered before placing his lips on my neck.

I pushed him and that damn smirk on his face away. "Shut up bastard; that doesn't mean anything."

At least I didn't think it did. Ugh, I hated second-guessing myself. That never used to happen before the bastard came along. Damn him.

"I must disagree with you on that, Naruto." Sasuke's smirk became wider, if that was even possible. "I'm starting to think that you do not mind me at all."

There was no point trying to argue with him. I stuck out my tongue and started to put my shoes on. I had no time for him; I had a seminar I had to attend. But, unfortunately, the bastard had other plans, because, once again, we were kissing. I pushed him back for the second time after several seconds of making out.

"Stop, Sasuke," I choked out. Just for the record, I only sounded out of breath because Sasuke, being the bastard he was, wouldn't let me breathe. I did not, I repeat, I did not enjoying kissing him.

Damn, I really should stop lying to myself.

This was all the bastard's fault. Why must he make my life so complicated?

Sasuke's smirk turned into a frown as he harshly grabbed my shoulders. "What is wrong with you?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm not attracted to men –I never was and I never will be."

There, I said it. I told him the truth, well, sort of. I wasn't attracted to men. No, I was just attracted to Sasuke, who was a man, not men- so technically, I wasn't lying to him.

Oh, crap. I might be confusing myself.

Sasuke had a blank look on his face. "Straight men do not fuck other men," he said in a monotone -I swore he sounded a bit hurt, or maybe that was my hyperactive imagination- voice before heading toward the bathroom.

He had a point, but I wasn't going to admit that to him. Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut for the time being. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. There was an uncomfortable silence between us. Sasuke wouldn't give me one word, and I- I was praying to God that Tsunade or Jiraiya wouldn't kill me for missing the seminar.

_"Sasuke, we know you're in there!"_

Was that really necessary?

I could tell that whoever screamed those words used a megaphone –like that was going to make them see Sasuke any faster. I narrowed my eyes at the bastard who froze when the megaphone was brought out. He just glared at the door.

"Seriously, you need to do something about the paparazzi!" I shouted, pointing at the still vibrating door. I must day, the person who designed this door should be praised or something –it was a miracle that the door remained intact even after being punched, banged, and kicked relentlessly for the past several hours.

Sasuke crossed his arms and gave the door his best glare. "Although it pains me to say this, it appears that it is time to let the hotel security fix this problem." He huffed and puffed then glared at me as if what the fan girls were doing was my fault. "Damn it, I really did not want to deal with them right now."

He picked up the phone and reluctantly dialed the number. It was as if he didn't want any help to die down the paparazzi exposition that was outside his room. He continued to glare at me when he asked, no, more like ordered, the guards to come up to his room.

I didn't know what the bastard's problem was –_I_ wasn't the one whose looks gave a reason for people to act like fools. I had no idea why he was pissed off at me. I mean, I thought calling in security was a good thing. It was their job to save people from other deranged people.

I don't know what you are mad at me for," I said as soon as Sasuke the bastard got off the phone. "If someone should be mad, it should be me. I'm going to have my head chopped off because I'm not at the seminar. You should learn how to control your photographers next time."

The bastard had the nerve to ignore me. He was so lucky, because if I wasn't too busy trying to figure out what to explain to Tsunade why I wasn't at the seminar, I would have thrown a shoe at his face. Or maybe a glass. Yea, that would do more damage.

"Don't tell me that you are afraid to call your own security," I laughed, "Come on, bastard, I thought you had more courage than that- and stop glaring at me."

Sasuke didn't need to tell me to shut up; his glare did the job for him. I didn't know what his problem was; I was just asking a simple question. Okay, fine, maybe I was teasing him a little, but that did not give the bastard the right to look at me like that. When I finally decided that I had enough of Sasuke's bastardly ways, I turned my phone back on and checked if I got any missed calls –there were forty-seven of them, mostly from Ino, Kakashi- wait, how the hell did he get my number?- and Sakura. I was tempted to call them back, but I soon realized that doing so wouldn't do me any good. The only thing returning their calls could do was entertain me until the security came.

I made a huge mistake by calling Ino first. Before I could say hello, she started yelling at me about being late and avoiding her and other things that I couldn't make out. Now, because I knew Ino for a long time, I was pretty much used to her loudness, but after hearing tons of people screaming and chanting for the past several hours, I was not in the mood to hear someone shout.

Sasuke, for the first time ever, gave me a sympathetic look when I held the phone away from my ears. Ino was so loud that Sasuke, who was at the other side of the room, could hear her. All Ino's screaming was tuned out as I witnessed Sasuke take off his robe and put on some normal clothes. He smirked at me when he caught me staring at him.

I blushed and turned away. "Yes, Ino, I know I should have told you. But it was the paparazzi's fault. Believe it!" Ino proceeded to yell at me even more. Once again, I didn't pay attention to her. Sasuke was still smirking to me. I hated when he smirked. It was annoying. "Ino, look, don't worry. I'm coming right now." I ignored Sasuke's low chuckle. He was such a pervert. "How the hell was I supposed to know that this would happen? I didn't know they would be after him like this!"

I rolled my eyes and let out an annoyed sigh while Ino continued to tell me that Megumi was pissed off at her because she had to deal with Kakashi and his perverted interpretation of the Bible all by herself, and that Gai, who was the pervert's "best friend," was going to do the second half of the seminar.

I shuddered. Gai? As in Gai the creep who had an odd obsession with green spandex and wouldn't shut up about being youthful? Oh, the horror! This might be one of the only times that I felt sorry for Megumi. No sane person should be put through that torture.

"Ino," I said, itching to get off the phone. I was positive that by the end of this phone call I was going to be deaf in my right ear, "I have to go; I'll be there soon. Tell Megumi that I will be at the seminar as soon as possible. Okay? Bye." I hung up before Ino could yell at me even more. Unfortunately, since Ino was done screaming, now I had to deal with the screams that were coming from outside.

Joy.

"I hate _them_…" Sasuke muttered under his breath before plopping onto the couch. I couldn't agree more. The noise had died down a bit; the deranged ones seemed to have given the poor door a break. Sasuke didn't bother complaining about the noise; he just cursed his overly enthusiastic paparazzi every two seconds.

I frantically looked around, trying to find an escape route. It wasn't that I wanted to leave, but I did love my life. I should make an effort to attend the seminar before the day was over, no matter how much I didn't want to go. I couldn't ask Sasuke to help; he didn't look like he was in any mindset to give me some aid. That bastard, if he didn't force me to come here, then I would have been at the seminar already.

Wait a second, the window! I could escape by the window!

I rushed to the window, opened it, and stuck my head out. The crazy woman who was hanging out there some time ago finally left. I looked down at the street below –I had to be at least hundreds of feet above the ground. Maybe trying to leave by the window wasn't going to be such a great idea.

Damn it! Why did we have to be so high up? I needed to be at the seminar like… two hours ago!

"Idiot, unless you want to commit suicide, you cannot escape by using the window."

"I knew that, bastard!" I turned to glare at Sasuke who was leaning on his room's door frame with an amused expression on his face. I crossed my arms and pouted. I couldn't understand why the bastard couldn't call me by my real name. I knew sometimes I had my dumb moments, but I didn't want to be called an idiot. "I should keep a tally of how many times you call me an idiot."

"Good luck with that."

Sasuke walked up to me and handed me my shirt. I took the material from him and thanked him. Sasuke 'hned'- seriously, that wasn't even a word. That couldn't even count as slang. What was up with the bastard and his hns? No one knew what it meant! I didn't think Sasuke of all people know what it meant- and disappeared into the bathroom with a full bottle of wine.

That was one weird man.

"How late are you?" Sasuke asked when he walked out of the bathroom with the wine bottle still in his hand. He took a sip and offered me some. I shook my head no; this was definitely not the time to have any alcohol, especially since I wasn't even supposed to be here.

I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall –it said that I was really, really late, but I guessed it was better to show up late than not at all. I doubted that Ino, Megumi, Moegi, and Chouji were still waiting for me. According to Megumi's voice mail, she gave up on waiting, and decided to go to the seminar,

"Let's just say when my parents find out that I'm not there yet, they'll murder me as soon as I get off that plane in Utah," I responded, trying not to sound like I was going to be in big trouble.

All of a sudden, right when I was trying to devise an escape plan, the screaming, the shouting, and the nonstop banging and chanting stopped. I glanced at Sasuke hoping that he could provide an explanation. Of course, he didn't. He ran his hands through his hair, mumbling something I couldn't catch. I had to admit, the security guards must have done a great job clearing out the hallway outside Sasuke's door.

I smiled at Sasuke. "Hey, we're free!"

Sasuke didn't bother to look at me. He cautiously approached his door as if he thought there was a bomb waiting to explode in the hallway. After a few seconds of hesitation, Sasuke slowly opened the door and quickly stepped aside just in case some fan that security failed to round up would pop out. All that was left in the hallway was empty packages of snacks, papers, and three megaphones. Not one person in sight. Wow, the bastard's brother should seriously consider giving the guards a raise.

I sighed; at least now I knew that I was free to go but-

Why was this so hard? Hours ago, I was praying my heart out to leave here, and now I was hesitating to go. Now I would rather…dare I say it, stay here with Sasuke then go to the seminar from hell. No, no, no! This was not supposed to happen.

"So, I guess I should go…"

Sasuke stopped whatever he was doing and just blinked. He bit his bottom lip, glanced up at me, then disappeared into the bathroom. Okay, well that was weird. I just stared at the bathroom door until Sasuke came out again. He didn't acknowledge me as he poured himself more wine- seriously, I needed to find out why he wasn't drunk yet. He had to have at least ten drinks since I got here.

Sasuke stopped whatever he was doing and just blinked. He bit his bottom lip, glanced up at me, then disappeared into the bathroom. Okay, well that was weird. I just stared at the bathroom door until Sasuke came out again. He didn't acknowledge me as he poured himself more wine- seriously, I needed to find out why he wasn't drunk yet. He had to have at least ten drinks since I got here.

Sasuke stopped whatever he was doing and just blinked. He bit his bottom lip, glanced up at me, then disappeared into the bathroom. Okay, well that was weird. I just stared at the bathroom door until Sasuke came out again. He didn't acknowledge me as he poured himself more wine- seriously, I needed to find out why he wasn't drunk yet. He had to have at least ten drinks since I got here.

God, he looked so lost and… hopeless. I had a feeling that he wanted me to stay. Oh god, why didn't I realize this before? No wonder he did not want his security guards to fend off the paparazzi; he was using them as an excuse for me to stay.

"You don't want to me to go, do you?"

"Your stupidity amazes me," Sasuke answered before walking away. He opened the door and stood next to it. He gave me a look as if he was waiting for me to leave.

In Sasuke's language, that answer meant yes.

Man, why couldn't he tell me this before…not that it would (should) change anything, but still. If I wasn't so caught up in trying and failing to tell myself that I wanted nothing to do with the bastard, I would have let out a whole-hearted laugh.

For some unknown reason, I began pacing around the room. Sasuke gave me an odd look, but remained silent.

You know what? This was getting way out of hand. I gave up. This was something that I rarely did –Naruto Uzumaki never gave up on anything. It just wasn't in me to give up, even if it was something that no one believed that I could achieve- like having Sakura as my girlfriend…no, wait, that was a bad example. Anyway, when it came to the bastard, there was no possible way that I would be able to get what I wanted. I couldn't believe that I actually did not want this to be last time I would see the bastard. I couldn't believe that I actually might like him. I let out a deep breath. "Do you want to meet up sometime later?"

"I thought you would never ask…" Sasuke answered and smiled in a way that made my heart melt. "Come over tonight. I would like to take you somewhere."

I told him that would be fine; I highly doubted I had anything exciting to do tonight. All I knew was that Ino and Moegi wanted to go shopping on Fifth Avenue -which I despised- and do other girly things, Megumi was going to be at the seminar, and Chouji was going to go and find some chip warehouse.

Sasuke gave me one last kiss before I left. Then the realization hit me like a ton of bricks as I walked out of the penthouse and made my way into the elevators.

I couldn't believe this.

The bastard turned me gay.

Or bi.

Whatever.

_Damn_.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Two Days Later:

It was six o'clock in the morning when Megumi woke me up.

I didn't get much sleep last night- and no, it was not because I was with the bastard all night; he had kicked me out of his room at seven because he was too busy arguing with some important guy about something important.

I was tired beyond belief; I didn't even have enough energy to get up and find something to eat, but did Megumi care? Of course she didn't, because if she did, she wouldn't have shown up at my door at this ungodly hour with a scowl on her face.

"But Megumi, I don't want to go to the seminar!" I shouted as my lovely sister dragged me from my hotel room. I barely even had enough time to get dressed. Megumi insisted that I needed to stop screwing with Sasuke- I hoped she did not mean literally; she could not have known what happened yesterday- and attend this seminar since that was the only reason why I was in New York the first place.

Okay, so she might have a point.

But still.

It was too damn early!

Megumi, as usual, did not listen to my pleas and continued to drag me down the hallway to the elevators. I did not know why she wanted me to go so badly; _she_ was the one who said the last seminar was almost unbearable to go through.

"Megumi," I whined- now I only did this when I was desperate. I never whined to Megumi, unless she held my ramen hostage, then I would have no choice. "Why do I have to go?"

Megumi stopped and glared at me. "Don't think that I don't know what you were doing in the room with your new boy last night."

Pretty sure of all color drained from my face.

Oh shit.

How the hell did she know about that?

I gave up fighting back while Megumi pushed me through the elevators doors. I was too horrified, traumatized, and confused as hell to fight back. Oh man, I was dead meat. What if she told Jiraiya about this, or worse… Tsunade? I might not be able to go back home.

I started to tremble as the elevator doors closed. Megumi unfortunately noticed this, and said with amusement in her voice, "Oh calm down, Naru-boy. It's not the end of the world."

"That's easy for you to say!" I snapped, burying my face into my hands. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen. I was dead meat. "And stop calling me Naru-boy!"

Megumi laughed. She loved ruining my life so much more than Sasuke. She patted me on the shoulders. "I'm not going to tell mom or dad. Your secret is safe with me," she assured me when we reached the first floor.

I did not know if I should believe her or not.

Thankfully, we were not late. The seminar was not going to start for another two hours, but we had to come early so we could get a good seat for the lecture- which was still unfortunately done by Gai and Kakashi. The hall where the seminar took place was right across the street from the hotel, which was nice; I would not have to go far when I decided to escape from this soon-to-be Hell. According to Megumi, the worst was over but I was not going to take any chances.

I wanted to be saved from this, but I had no one to turn to for help. Ino and Moegi left earlier this morning to go on more sight-seeing adventures. According to Ino's voice message, they weren't going to be back in the hotel until after dark. Chouji couldn't save me either –earlier this morning, he found out that there was a free breakfast buffet in the hotel dining room, and I highly doubted he was going to leave that place any time soon.

Megumi nudged my side with her elbow and tilted her head the left. "Look who's here. I didn't know they were coming."

Great. The Hyuugas were here.

"Oh, and there's Hinata," Megumi said, pointing at Hinata, who blushed when she saw us. Megumi gave me a sly look. "I wonder what she would think when she finds out that her crush is hooking up with men?"

I gave Megumi an icy glare. "You wouldn't dare…"

Megumi laughed again and continued walking.

Of course she thought this whole sexuality thing was a joke.

For the next ten minutes, I followed Megumi around the hall. I did not want to lose her. I needed to restrain from talking to anyone. After a while, Megumi was getting fed up. She stopped and turned to me. "Naruto, you need to stop following me like you're one of my kids and mingle with other people."

I glared at her; I did not want to mingle, I wanted to go back in my hotel room and find a good ramen place and eat away my problems because God knew that I had a lot of them.

The hall was not large, but I sure wished it was. There had to be at least three hundred people here, and I was not counting the ones who were coming inside currently. I stayed by Megumi's side as we maneuvered through the crowd. We had to stop here and there to greet some people. Man, I felt like my entire church was here; I knew almost everyone in the room. The only ones who were missing were some of the Hyuugas, my parents, and Megumi's family. Even Shizune was here, and she never showed up to anything.

I looked through my pockets so I could find the time on my phone. By the time I looked up, Megumi was gone.

Where was she?

I groaned and threw my hands up in frustration; now I had to find her as more and more people poured into the halls. This was just terrific.

When I turned around to find when Megumi was, I bumped into someone. When I realized who it was, I sighed in relief. Yes, I would not get killed for invading someone's personal space. I smiled at the woman who just happened to be Anko.

Anko was not as bad as most people thought –she just liked to seduce people, and thought that she was everyone's matchmaker, never leaving single people alone. Ever since I graduated from high school, I was declared as Anko's new matchmaking "victim "even after I told her that I was dating Sakura.

"Hello Ms. Anko," I said, giving the woman a hug.

Anko hugged me back. "Oh Naruto, you have gotten so handsome!"

I blushed.

Anko laughed and pulled me into another hug. She liked giving hugs; it was one of the signs that she liked you besides, you know, finding who you were going to spend the rest of your life with. "So, Naruto, when is the wedding?"

I blinked. "Uh, sorry?"

Anko slapped me hard on the back, though it wasn't intentional. She was much stronger than she thought. "Oh, don't be silly! When are you going to marry Sakura? You know, she would be the perfect wife for you."

I let out a nervous laugh. "Oh right, about that. Sakura and I aren't together anymore."

Anko's eyes were as wide as saucers, literally and dramatically gasped. "What? How? Oh no, how can this be? Tsunade called me yesterday and told me that I should start making wedding plans as soon as possible."

Of course she did.

"Yeah… it didn't work out."

I had no intentions on telling Anko what really happened –she, like the majority of Tsunade's friends, liked to gossip. If they found out that Sakura cheated on me with Lee, all hell would break loose, and Sakura, along with her parents, would most likely try to kill me.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Anko apologized, patting my shoulders. "Don't worry about it Naruto. This is God's will. I'm going to find you a nice young lady who is a million times better than Sakura."

"That's… that's not really necessary…"

"Nonsense! You need to get married," she continued after I shook my head. "Your sister already has five kids, and she is only a few years older than you. I'm sure your parents want some more grand babies. I love babies. Don't you?"

"Uh, not really…" There was no point in lying to her –Anko was a master of digging up the truth- there were many ways she did this and it disturbed me just thinking about it. I really hoped that her lie detector was acting up today; I did not want her to find out about Sasuke.

"Shame on you," Anko scolded, shaking her head with shame and praying for me. Just when I thought she was finished with her interrogation, she continued, "What about Tenten? I know she is single. No man in his right mind would want to deal with a woman who can wield weapons like nobody's business. However, I think you can deal with her."

"Uh… uh…"

I didn't have anything against Tenten, even she with crazy weapon obsession, she was a very nice person. But I was trying my very best to stay on Neji's good side. Dating Tenten would only give Neji another reason to hate me.

Anko sensed my discomfort and apologized. She pondered for a moment before asking, "What about Hiashi Hyuuga's eldest daughter?"

I blinked again. "Hinata?"

"Oh yes! That one," Anko nodded very eagerly. "Hinata has had eyes for you ever since you two were in diapers. I once told Hiashi Hyuuga that you and his daughter were made for each other, but the poor man could not see the obvious." She leaned in more to whisper in my ear. "I think he needs to stop spending so much time finding out ways to bring your family down and deal with his own family problems."

I couldn't date Hinata. Don't get me wrong; I liked her –she was very nice, and even came over my house a few times to take care of me when I was really sick. However, she was too quiet for my own good. I didn't even know how I could deal with-

No, I couldn't think of him right now. Not when there was a nosy matchmaker in front of me.

"I like Hinata, but she isn't the one for me. Anyway, I thought she was dating Kiba."

Anko scoffed. "Oh, don't be silly. That dog boy? Hiashi Hyuuga would never approve of that."

So I was guessing from Anko's response that Kiba did not tell Mr. Hyuuga that he was dating his daughter yet. I kept telling him that he had to do it soon but Kiba was convinced that Mr. Hyuuga and Neji would kill him if he said anything. Which they probably would, but that was not the point.

Anko was going to talk to me some more, but then someone, who I believed is called Asuma- he was smoking, so it was most likely him, called for her. Anko apologized for leaving and promised that she would come back to talk some more after she figured out what Asuma wanted. I told her it was fine; I was relieved that I didn't have to talk about dating anymore.

I still needed to find Megumi. I began to walk through the large crowd toward the front of the hall. I felt like I was at that club again; people were pushing and shoving, shouting out other people's names. After a minute or so of walking, I had to stop because there was a large crowd forming. I had the pleasure of listening to three women talk about men's sexual parts.

Nice. This was exactly what I wanted to hear.

Where was ramen when I needed it?

"Isn't he cute?" The woman on my left asked the women next to her. The women, who I assumed were her friends, giggled and nodded. Oh no, these were fan girls. It seemed that everywhere I went there were fan girls or in this case, fan women, looming around.

"I wonder if he is married?"

"Never mind that; I want to know what is under that mask."

"He must be drop-dead gorgeous."

"I bet he has the mask so he can make sure that lust does not overcome us women. You know lust is a sin."

I currently faced the talking women, but quickly turned around when all three gave me dirty looks. They could not be serious.

If you did not notice, the person the women next to me were talking about was none other than Kakashi Hatake –the biggest, most perverted, creepiest, and oddest televangelist I had ever met. He could not be much older than Megumi, but he had natural silver hair- which was very popular with the ladies.

Now I knew why there was such a huge crowd, Kakashi was currently walking toward the front of the hall. There were some people chanting his name and asking him for his autograph, but Kakashi did not spare anyone a look; he was too busy "reading".

Only Kakashi would bring his porno book to a church seminar. Everyone, even the super religious church ladies who loved to preach about how lust was a sin, knew what he was reading, but no one said anything. The men were too afraid of him for some reason, and the women were in love with him.

Much to my horror, I saw a flash of green coming my way. This only meant one thing- actually two things. Gai, or his protégé and my-ex friend Rock Lee, was charging in his direction. I thought about escaping, but I somehow managed to be so deep inside the crowd that I was stuck in one place.

Oh no, it was Lee.

Maybe he would not see me.

"Naruto!"

Crap.

I tried to find an escape route, but before I could think of anything, Lee tackled me no other people. After I apologized, I turned to Rock Lee "Hello-"

Lee gave me a super bone-crushing hug. Oh man, he was wearing that horrible green spandex jumpsuit. Seriously, what did Sakura see in him? I knew I wore a lot of orange, but I would never do anything as fashion-suicidal as this. Lee finally let go of me- I thought he broke some of my bones, and said, in a very loud voice, "You are finally here! I cannot wait for you to see the wonderful youthfulness!"

"Gee, I can't wait," I groaned while I tried to bring some feeling back into my arms. Damn, Lee was strong.

Lee glanced around the hall as if he was looking for someone. "Wait here, I want to tell Brother Gai that you are here."

"It's okay. You don't need to-"

Lee was already gone before I could finish. I had a feeling that Lee forgot that I was mad at him for sleeping with my ex-girlfriend.

"Naruto!"

Not again.

Why was everyone calling my name?

I turned around and saw the one person I thought I would never see again, who ran into me, and gave me a bone crushing hug. Sakura? I thought Sakura was back in Utah. What on earth was she doing here?

I gently pushed Sakura away from me and said, "Uh hello…"

Sakura smirked and slowly ran her hands through her pink hair. "Hey."

Well, this was going to be awkward.

Sakura looked beautiful as always –especially in her sundress. I smiled at her and hugged her back; I guessed I should act nice to her since I was surrounded by almost everyone I knew. There was nothing wrong with acting cordial to my ex-girlfriend and this was definitely not the time to demand an explanation from her and start a fight. One of my parents' nosy friends could tell mom or dad, and then I would not hear the end of it.

I pulled away from her. "Sakura, you look nice."

Sakura gave me a warm smile and twirled, lifting the dress to show off the patterns. I had no idea why she felt the need to do this, but I chose to ignore her. "Thank you Naruto," Sakura said. She gave me another hug before saying, "Well, you do not look so bad yourself. How are you doing?"

Was she seriously asking me this?

"_Fine_."

If Sakura did not know I was still upset with her, she knew now. She gulped and looked around, as if she was looking for someone to give her some advice on what to say. I was going to walk away until she grabbed my arm. "Look, about the relationship thing; I'm sorry Naruto. It was nothing personal. I didn't think we were going to work out, and with all this pressure from both sides to marry you…"

"Then why didn't you just break up with me?"

"Then why didn't you just break up with me?"

Sakura put her sad face on- her fake sad face on, mind you. "Oh Naruto, you know I still care for you. I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"So, you cheated on me to make me feel _better_?"

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Sakura snapped before pausing, "But hey, don't worry. I won't pursue you down even if your mother wants us to get married. I already have my eyes set on someone, and it's not Lee."

Lee was going to be so devastated; he had been in love with Sakura since we were in preschool. I really should not care about whom Sakura's new victim was, but I could not help but be curious.

"And who this person might be?'

Sakura triumphantly smiled at me, and answered in a very determined voice, "Sasuke Uchiha."

I nearly choked on my gum that should have been thrown out a long time ago.

"You're kidding," was all I managed to say. How did Sakura know about Sasuke? Oh, right, the bastard was famous.

Sakura looked offended that I even thought she was joking. She huffed and crossed her arms. "Of course not, Sasuke and I were meant to be. See, he is everything I want in a man; he is handsome, charming, classy, and rich."

I didn't know about the charming and classy part- in my experience, he was much more of a perverted and grumpy type of person.

Of course I did not tell Sakura this because then she would ask questions.

Maybe I should tell her that Sasuke liked men.

No, that would be a bad idea.

Sakura continued her rant about how she and Sasuke would be perfect as a couple. I began to tune her out; I really did not want to know all of the crazy things she would do to Sasuke –just like with the receptionist from before, this was something that I did not want to her from anyone, especially my ex-girlfriend. I was going to ask her something until she paused, then made a squeaking sound. When she pointed at my neck, I instantly knew what caught her attention.

Damn that Sasuke. He seriously needed to stop planting hickeys on my neck. Everyone was starting to notice.

I covered my neck with my hand in an attempt to distract Sakura. It didn't work. She removed my hand and made another squeaky noise.

There was only one way I could pull this off: by using the oldest saying the book"

"Sakura, it's not what you think…"

And like always, it didn't work.

"Not what I think?" Sakura questioned, not once removing her eyes from my neck. There was no point on covering it; the damage was already done. "Why are there hickeys on your neck? Do you have a new girlfriend?"

I hated my life.

"Answer me Naruto!"

Some people nearby turned to look at us. Trust Sakura to cause a scene over something so small. Tell me, why did I deal with her for all this time? Oh, right, because I was in love with her. At the time.

"Sakura, what's on my neck does not involve you. We're over."

Some people nearby turned to look at us. Trust Sakura to cause a scene over something so small. Tell me, why did I deal with her for all this time? Oh, right, because I was in love with her. At the time.

"Sakura, what's on my neck does not involve you. We're over."

Sakura did not like that answer. I wanted to tell her the truth, but I couldn't tell her that the "love of her life" was the one who put those marks on my neck. She wouldn't believe me, and if she did, she would accuse me of being a home wrecker- which wouldn't make since she and Sasuke was not together; sometimes Sakura's logic did not make any sense.

"Naruto, are you seeing someone else?" Sakura asked sounding angry and hurt. I had no clue why. I thought she didn't want anything to do with me.

"No." I rolled my eyes. "And why would you care? You're in love with Sasuke…"

Sakura frowned and crossed her arms. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous. You're jealous that I am going to get married to a wealthy man and become famous while you work a nine to five job. I bet you made those marks on your neck on purpose so I can think you are actually getting some. Well, I've got news for you, Naruto –no one wants you. No one has, and no one will. You were lucky to have me, but you royally messed that up."

I must admit; those words hurt.

I wanted to laugh it off, but then I thought that this was not the time to do so; it would only encourage Sakura to make a huge scene. "You're delusional Sakura."

As soon as Sakura opened her mouth to most likely scream some more insults at me, the crowd moved. I was grateful enough to get away from Sakura. I still didn't see Megumi, but I supposed I would look for her later. It wasn't long before I was able to find myself a seat. I planned to stay glued to this chair until this horrible seminar was over.

I didn't think that I could deal with this until eight in the evening.

I sighed and sat down, wondering what the bastard was doing.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

I loathed meetings.

Especially the meetings that had absolutely, positively nothing to do with me or my work.

I had no idea why I was here. My job was to make sure this hotel was running as smoothly and efficiently as possible, not worry about how the company should bring down a rival hotel chain.

It took all of the power in the universe not to bang my hand on the table until I reached unconsciousness. And I was positive that I was not the only person, who felt this way,

My older brother, Itachi, was sitting at the end of the long table, fighting not to fall asleep and looking bored as ever. Of course since he was an Uchiha, his bored expression only looked like his normal emotionless expression. He, as well as every other sane member at this meeting, including myself, would occasionally glance at the clock. I didn't understand him; if he wanted to leave this meeting so badly, why couldn't he just call it a day?

Many people feared Itachi, but I was just irritated by him. When he was around other people, Itachi acted like a complete Uchiha, but when he was only around me, he acted like a five year old. He loved to tease me about my love of brooding- which was absolutely, positively false, and about my fan clubs and paparazzi's love of attacking me. I didn't necessarily hate him, after all, he was my brother, but there were times that I wished I could jam my pens into his eyes.

And yes, women had an infatuation with Itachi too. I could not understand women. People claimed that my brother was much more attractive then I was, but I had the pleasure of having all of the fan clubs. Granted, my brother was not as patient as me, and would not hesitate to send his minions after people. However, this did not mean that he should not have any fan clubs. He deserved to be harassed by fans, too.

I glanced at the clock for the umpteenth, and silently groaned. Only fifteen minutes had passed? That was impossible; I felt like I had been in this room for hours.

I couldn't afford to waste time in his room; I had three meetings tonight, and of course these were the ones I had no choice but to attend. I also had three piles of paper work to go through, and gods know how many calls to make. I did not know what was wrong with my brother, but he needed to stop giving me so much work. He had over ten secretaries, why couldn't they do all of this paperwork?

Oh, I knew why –because Itachi loved to torture me. It was his favorite thing besides hanging out, his best friend, Kisame- I didn't want to get into the details, painting his nails with purple nail polish- didn't want to talk about this either, and bossing everyone around.

Tobi, one of Itachi's minions, cleared his throat and attempted to breathe some life into this very-lifeless meeting, "But we do have some terrific news!" Everyone stared at him as he smiled way too brightly for my liking. "So far, it appears that we have the ability to make sure that our rivals cannot and will not surpass us…"

"I agree," Itachi said, fighting back a yawn. He sat up in his chair and straightened his suit jacket. He looked like he was moments away from going to sleep. "I agree with you one hundred percent…"

I didn't give a damn about rivals; I had a hotel to run!

Maybe I should fake an illness? No, that wouldn't work –Itachi would be able to see right through the act, and he believed that as his brother, we should suffer everything _together_. Damn it. I could not believe I was saying this, but I would rather deal with my fan girls and the paparazzi than be here. At least I could occupy myself with finding out ways to escape them. I could not escape this meeting.

I did nothing but stare at the door for the next five minutes.

Okay, I needed to occupy myself before I lost my mind. I glanced around the room, making sure that no one was looking in my direction, before I tore out a piece of paper from my note pad. I needed to write a "To Do" list; I liked things to be organized, and because I was too busy being occupied with _other_ things, I was not able to make my daily list.

Sasuke Uchiha's Daily Things to do by the End of this Week List

One: Finish reading through all contracts, including ones from the past year

Two: Get Itachi off my back and out of my life

Three: Ditto Karin, except I need her in my life- unfortunately

Four: Ditto fan girls and paparazzi

Five: Mail letter to parents

Six: Stop thinking about Naruto

I stared at the paper in front of me in horror. All inspiration for the to-do list disappeared. I crumbled the paper up and threw it into my briefcase, the garbage was too risky. Of course my body guard noticed it. He leaned over and whispered in my ear in an amused tone, "Stop thinking about Naruto? Very interesting indeed."

I sent him my signature death glare.

I had a horrible feeling that he was immune to it.

I gave my other bodyguard, Juugo, a week off to attend a wedding in Italy. I should have sent Suigetsu along with him. Then, I would not have to worry about him teasing me about Naruto."

"One more word and you are fired," I harshly whispered to him as low as possible. I didn't want to attract any attention that would demand an explanation from Itachi. I could not talk about Naruto. No, that would not end peacefully, I would be harassed about it for the rest of my life.

"Sasuke, do you want to include your input about the topic at hand?"

I looked up and glared at my brother who was sporting that infuriating smirk- I hated him so much. I cleared my throat and replied in the calmest voice possible, "No, I do not."

Itachi let out an exaggerated sigh, as if he was disappointed. "Are you sure, dear brother?"

"Yes," I replied curtly before reaching into my briefcase for the piece of paper and returning to my list. There was no need for me to worry about was said in here; it had nothing to do with me.

I let out a sigh. It was not fair. Shikamaru could snore his way through an entire meeting, without any objections from his superiors, but if I did the same, Itachi would throw a fit and accuse me of not taking my job seriously.

Shikamaru woke up for a second and mumbled about how he should be cloud watching now. Itachi and the rest of the board purposely ignored the lazy man. The attention was quickly returned to Hidan, our financial adviser.

I decided to tune him out; I was too bored to care what he was saying.

The talks were just noise to me as I continued on with my list. It scared me that everything I had written down had something to do with the moron. I did not know what was wrong with me; I did not even like him that much. He was loud; he was immature _and_ he was going through an identity crisis.

I did not mean to sleep with him. I did not mean to see him at the airport or in this hotel. I did not mean to sleep with him again in my penthouse. I did not mean to sleep with him for the third time in the lobby closet- my rationality was not functional at the time, and I did not mean kiss him goodbye and goodnight last night.

In all honestly, the denial was making my head hurt.

Much to my dismay, my list ended up becoming a list of pros and cons of being with Naruto. Seriously, this was getting out of hand. A few days ago, I was even determined to make Naruto stay in New York. I did not know why I wanted him stay; I barely knew him. I did not know why I was not looking forward to seeing Naruto leave –the idiot was annoying and loud- two things that I had no patience for. Yes, I would admit it, he was hot and, yes, and I did like _experimenting_ with him.

Damn it. I wanted to see him again.

Once again, my list making was interrupting by my brother, who thought it was a good idea to open his mouth. Itachi leaned back in his chair and asked, "What do you think Kisame, about what Hidan suggested?"

Kisame was Itachi's right hand man and best friend. He used to scare me when I was younger because he resembled a shark, and sometimes acted like one. He still scared me today, but I refused to let anyone know about it. Uchihas were not supposed to be afraid of anything, especially those who resembled animals.

Kisame gave my brother a smirk that could only be described as suggestive- this might verify the rumors about them. Apparently, according to some of Itachi's secretaries, my brother and Kisame were caught doing some rather…inappropriate things in one of the bathroom stalls. Ugh, that was one mental image I did not want to have.

"I think this is a terrific idea," Kisame answered almost immediately.

I was starting to think that Kisame was more of a "yes" man than Itachi's partner-in-crime and/or lover.

Itachi nodded, and turned his attention to Shikamaru, who was still asleep. "Shikamaru," my brother said in a rather loud voice. "I need you to think of a plan that will tackle this new dilemma."

I thought it was amazing that as soon as my brother opened his mouth, Shikamaru woke up. I needed to find and master how he was able to do this. I could see that doing so would prove to be very awarding later on.

"How troublesome…" was all Shikamaru said, well, grumbled, before he slammed his head back on the desk and went to sleep.

That was one lucky man.

It was silent for a few moments. No one wanted to say anything or maybe, they just didn't know what to say. I was still trying to figure out why Itachi called this meeting. There was nothing drastic going on. We were still the number one hotel chain the world; so what if Suna Hotels were number two? They were trailing way behind us.

"Did you hear about Madara?" Deidara asked out of the blue. "I heard from someone who heard from someone else that he is thinking about having a partnership with the Suna Hotel Chain."

All eyes turned to him, including mine. Anything that involved Madara was not good. The last time we had to deal with him, the police were called. However, the man was dead, and therefore there was nothing he could to us, right?

I frowned and crossed my arms. "I thought Madara was dead."

"We all thought Madara was dead…" Itachi responded, narrowing his eyes. His boredom was replaced by aggravation. He hated our uncle with a passion.

I could tell that Itachi wanted to terminate any talk about our uncle –Itachi tried to fight back another yawn, sat back up in his seat, and began to put his papers together. "The meeting is adjourned." Itachi ignored the big sigh of relief from everyone; he shouldn't be mad at anyone; he knew that this meeting was starting to become unbearable.

Thank the gods; I didn't think I could stand another minute of this.

It didn't take long for everyone to rush out of the boardroom.

Right when I was moments away from freedom, my infuriating brother called me back into the board room. I tried my very best not to look annoyed, but it was definitely not working. Itachi smirked as I sat back in my seat, while Suigetsu stood outside the office.

"You have…changed," Itachi said. He sounded like he was worried for a nanosecond, but it was quickly replaced by amusement. He enjoyed when things happened to me. Apparently, according to Kisame, bothering me was Itachi's stress reliever during a long, stressful, day at work.

This was something I did not appreciate that.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't," Itachi replied way too quickly. "I just wanted to know why my usually brooding brother has been such in a good mood lately."

I did not brood; brooding was for teenagers.

I didn't respond to my brother because I didn't know how. Itachi was not the first person to notice that I had "changed" though I refused to believe that this was the case; Suigetsu mentioned it way too many times. Karin, my secretary, thought I was losing my mind yesterday. Of course, I had denied everything; I was still the same Sasuke Uchiha.

Did my mood change that much?

Maybe it was just the sex –people claimed that people felt better after having sex.

While I was trying to figure out why everyone claimed I was so different- well, not everyone, the idiot still thought I was a bastard, I could not help but notice that my darling brother was staring at me the entire time with that infuriating smirk on his face.

I scowled at him. "What are you looking at, Itachi?"

My brother shrugged and tried to hide his smug expression. He knew what was going on, and, being the sadist he was, he would not tell me until an opportunistic time came up. I hated dealing with Itachi's antics.

"Has anyone ever told you that the back of your head looks like a duck's butt?"

It took all of my strength not to shove my briefcase down Itachi's throat.

Itachi was annoying; there was no other word to describe him when he was not around other businessmen. Immature was also quite accurate. He loved getting under my skin and making me express myself in random outbursts of anger. It was a shame that he could do this to me; I was an Uchiha; Uchihas did not yell out in random outburst of anger.

I guess Itachi forgot that part.

Or maybe he _did_ know, but was testing my ability to act like an Uchiha.

As an Uchiha, emotions were considered a weakness –lust included. I was usually capable of passing this "test," but for the past few days, I was acting more and more like a hormonal teenager than my namesake. I didn't have anyone to blame for this but myself, and maybe Naruto. He was basically the root of all of my problems.

"Has anyone ever told you to shut the fuck up?"

"Oh! Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

I glared at him; I was sure that there was steam coming from my ears. "If the only reason you called me back in here was to tease me-"

"You're right; I should get to the point," Itachi said, cutting me off. I was a bit worried about what he was about to say –Itachi never agreed with me. "I heard from some very reliable sources that you are getting very comfortable with one of our hotel guests."

Damn him!

I cleared my throat. I needed to act as normal as possible. "I do not know what you are talking about. And even if I am, which I am not, the matter does not concern you, _Itachi_."

Itachi scoffed and brushed off everything I had just said with a wave. "Do you not know who I am, little brother? Your concern is my concern; we concern ourselves about each other's concern. It's the brotherly way."

I narrowed my eyes. I should have known that Itachi knew about Naruto. My brother knew about everything that happened in his hotel, and I did not want to know how Itachi found out about Naruto. You know what? I bet he installed cameras in all of the rooms because, being the sadist he was, he would want to watch his guests engaging in various physical activities.

I was positive that installing cameras in hotel rooms was against the law. I must look into this before Itachi hears anything else from his "very reliable sources."

Itachi's smirk widened a tenfold as he patted my shoulders. I hated it when he tried to act all supportive of me; he was only doing this to tease me. "I think it's cute that you have a little boyfriend…"

Unfortunately, my signature glare times a thousand did not work on him.

I just about had it with Itachi. He needed to learn how to stop meddling in my affairs. What I did with Naruto was none of his concern. Shouldn't he be running a company? How did he have the time to find out what I was doing? I had so much work I barely had time to think, and I was only the hotel manager.

I snarled at him. "Naruto is not my boyfriend."

Why did I say his name?

"Of course, little brother, of course," Itachi said in an unconvincing voice. He sat up in his chair, "I want to meet this _Naruto_."

My glare intensified.

Of course Itachi did.

"Unfortunately for you, that is simply not possible," I answered as calmly as possible. I was moments away from lashing out at Itachi, but that would not be the Uchiha thing to do. "He is leaving for Utah."

Itachi nodded. I did not know what was wrong with him, but there should be no reason why Itachi, of all people, would want to meet someone like Naruto.

"Utah…" Itachi said, rubbing his chin. "I see you are into long distance relationships." He almost laughed at my enraged face. "I thought he wasn't supposed to leave until next week. Well, I think that gives you more than enough time to introduce your boyfriend to me."

If I wasn't an Uchiha, I would have thrown a chair at him, but I would never do such a thing. Therefore, I decided to do the next best thing.

"Go fuck yourself."

Sadly, there might be a chance that my sadistic brother took what I just said as a "yes," because he still had that damned smug look on his face. He glanced around the room before saying, "I expect to see him by Sunday. You are dismissed."

Itachi deserved to be the in the lowest pit in Hell.

For the next fifteen minutes, I locked myself in my office, with staring out my window being my only activity. I skipped lunch; eating only a tomato that was in my mini-fridge, and ignoring all of my calls, well, the ones that were not too important. I tried to start some of the paper work, but the thought of Itachi meeting Naruto was too distracting.

I needed to find a way to get out of this, and I needed to find it now.

Having Itachi meet Naruto would be, without a doubt, one of the most catastrophic moments in my life. I was a bit worried about what might happen if those two met.

Maybe I should just blackmail Itachi. I would threaten him that if he made me take Naruto to him that I would expose to everyone that he was having a secret "relationship" with one of his board members. Wait, that wouldn't work. Knowing Itachi, he would just admit to it.

Suigetsu walked into my office with a plate of food and a big bag of chips in his hands. He ignored the annoyed look I gave him; he knew I hated food in my clean office. It might attract pests. He waved at me, and took a bite of his food, before saying. "Karin is looking for you. I have to warn you, she's looking way too sexy to be at work."

I looked outside my office so I could seek out Karin. I found her chatting, well, _flirting_ with the mailman.

Maybe if I was lucky, Karin wouldn't come in here any time soon.

Suigetsu sat in the chair in front of my desk. "So what did Mr. Uchiha want with you? From the look on your face, he must've said something to get you upset."

I groaned and did everything I could not to bang my head on my desk. "He found out about Naruto," I paused as Suigetsu gave me a surprised look. "I do not know how, but he found out. And now he wants to meet him."

"That sucks."

"Yes it does," I responded. "Maybe this is a sign from the gods that I should give all of my attention to my job." I frowned. "Naruto is clearly a distraction."

Suigetsu shoved some chips in his mouth and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. I almost gagged, and was about to scold my bodyguard before he said, "So you're going to give up on him? Because he is a distraction? What if Naruto is a good distraction? Damn, I haven't seen you this happy since- actually, I've never seen you happy at all. Don't try to mess up a good distraction because then you're just going to be bitter for the rest of your life."

I frowned; Suigetsu did not know what he was talking about. Naruto was not my lover; he was just a fling. And contrary to popular belief, one night stands did not result in real relationships.

Honestly, we had more than a one night stand, but this was not the time for technicalities.

My eyes widened. What if…what if the reason why I was so "happy" was because my hormones were acting up? Yes, that had to be it; it was the only logical excuse I could think of.

I rubbed my chin with my hand and whispered, "I think I have a hormonal problem."

Suigetsu nearly choked on the food he was eating. I supposed this was something that no one wanted to hear from his or her boss. "What?"

"I think I have a hormonal problem," I repeated, but this time I was more serious. This hormonal problem was no joke. "This can only explain why I want Naruto so much…"

Suigetsu made more choking sounds. After he washed down the chips with some water, he said, "You know, boss. It's okay to like someone."

That was definitely not what I wanted to hear. Didn't Suigetsu get it? I did not like Naruto! I was experiencing a hormonal abnormality and I needed to be treated as soon as possible.

"There _is_ a difference between liking someone and lusting after someone."

"Yes, of course you have only told me this far about a hundred times," Suigetsu said. Then his expression turned into worry. "Are you sure you're not losing your mind with this whole Naruto thing?"

Now normally, I would threaten my body guard with his job and perhaps his life, but he might be onto something. Maybe there was something wrong with my sanity. I gave Naruto and his friends their rooms for free for gods' sake. Free! I, under no circumstances, was allowed to do that. I am still shocked that Itachi did not find out about this. I should not be the nice guy and gave away free rooms; nice was not in my job description.

Right when I was about to persuade my body guard that I was perfectly fine, the second, no third to last person I wanted to see, came into my view.

I groaned.

Karin was here.

I did not want anyone to think that I hated Karin; I didn't. There were times that I did not mind having Karin around. When she was not in her fan girl mode, she was not that bad to be around. It was a hell of a lot better than dealing with Itachi, or Suigetsu, when he felt like teasing me. However, I was currently not in the mood to deal with Karin and her insanity.

"Hello, Mr. Uchiha!" Karin shouted at the top of her lungs as she barged into my office. The other employees gave her an odd look before returning back to their work –most of them were used to Karin's odd display of everything.

I, however, was not, even after all these years.

I frowned and leaned back in my reclining chair; there must be a reason why I put up with her as a secretary. Suigetsu stayed in his place, occasionally sending me an amused look –he loved watching Karin torture me.

"Do you want to go out to lunch with me, I know this new-"

"No."

As usual, my secretary wasn't taking no for an answer. "But why not?" Karin

whined. Oh how much I hated whiners unless-

I shook my head.

"Sasuke's taken," Suigestu replied, not flinching when I growled at him.

Karin looked disappointed and upset. She slumped in the other chair right in front of my desk. "By whom? How do I not know about this? I'm your secretary; I should know everything!"

"By no one," I quickly responded before Suigestu opened his big mouth. I knew he was going to say Naruto; I could feel his vocal cords trying to say that name. Karin couldn't know about Naruto; she would get mad and tell everyone, including my darling brother.

Oh, how could I forget? That wouldn't matter at all. Itachi already knew about Naruto.

Gods damn it!

Suigetsu shook his head at me and then turned his attention to Karin. "Don't listen to the boss; he's in denial." He smirked as he looked at her up and down. "I guess that outfit was put to waste…"

Karin and I raised our eyebrows. After realizing what Suigetsu was talking about, she exclaimed, "This outfit is not for Sasuke! What type of person do you think I am? I'm not into secretary-boss relationships, and for your information, Suigetsu, I am going out on a date later!"

If I wasn't an Uchiha I would have laughed.

Karin was going on a date. Well, this was something new. I thought she, like the majority of the female population here, only wanted to be with me. Not that I was complaining; it was nice to have one less fan girl.

"Hn." I sat up in my chair. "Does this mean you will finally stop asking me out on dates?"

"Oh no, Sasuke," Karin answered, laughing as if I had asked the most ridiculous question, "I still want you, but I think I should give this guy a chance. You know, just in case this person Suigetsu was talking about is the love of your life."

Great.

Just to let everyone know, Naruto, by all means, was not "the love of my life."

Suigetsu evilly grinned at me.

Karin winked at me.

I did not appreciate that they thought that my entire ordeal was for their entertainment.

My thought process was interrupted when Karin clapped and had the nerve to give me a tight hug. Unfortunately, she was one of the few people who were immune to my glare. "This is great!" She screamed in my ear, "Oh Sasuke, I am so happy for you!"

Suigestu and I exchanged very confused looks.

I thought she-

After realizing that I did not like hugs, Karin apologized, let me go, and proceeded to flop on my desk on top of my papers that I was supposed to be reading through right now. She then asked in that shrilly voice of hers, "So, what is his name? Where is he from?"

I refused to answer any of Karin's absurd questions.

And now that I was thinking about it, why was she here in the first place? I thought I had given her a load of work so she could spend more time doing her job and less time trying to ask about my "love life."

"Naruto Uzumaki," Suigetsu answered with a smug look on his face. I didn't know why he looked like that; he was five seconds away from being fired. "And he's from Utah."

Karin gave Suigetsu a questioning look, and she turned her attention back to me. "Naruto? Who is this Naruto, Suigetsu's talking about?"

Once again I ignored Karin's question, and once again, my poor excuse of a bodyguard answered for me.

"You know the one our boss had the one night stand during the trip to the great American Southwest?"

Karin's eyes widened with realization, and she made an "oh" sound. How she found out about what occurred in Utah, I had no clue. However, I had too much work and so little time to be worrying about that right now.

I needed to stop telling Suigetsu everything.

A wide smile came on Karin's face. Oh no, this meant she was getting excited, and this meant my life was going to turn for the worse. Karin should never be allowed to smile that way. She rubbed her hands together. "_That_ one. I thought you said you weren't going to see him again?"

"I was not."

"Naruto…" Karin took a mint from my mint jar. She did not care that I was sending her a mean look. "Oh my god, are you talking about the guy you said that you liked three days ago?"

"I did not say that I liked him;" I corrected. "I said that I was interested in him."

There was a difference.

Karin laughed.

Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "That's the same thing."

"No it is _not_," I snapped. I could feel my anger rising. I didn't understand why my subordinate couldn't just do their job and leave me the hell alone. "And if you value your job, stop arguing with me."

"You know; you need to think of another threat. Your brother is already securing my job."

Itachi, why couldn't he mind his own damn business? I could fire whomever I wanted to in this hotel; I didn't need my brother to butt his nose into my business.

"How many times did you hook up with him?" Karin asked a little bit too excitedly. I didn't get this woman –I thought she was in love with me. Why did she care what I did with Naruto? She should be cursing Naruto to hell.

I should not pondering about Karin's question. I really should not but I could not help myself.

Well, there was that one time in the car, and the airport bathroom, and my penthouse, and the lobby closet, my the bathroom inside my penthouse but, in my defense, that should not count because we only kissed.

"Once," I lied pretty confidently. What? Did you honestly think I was going to tell the truth? So they could run their mouths and tell my brother? Who would never leave me alone about this for the rest of my natural born life? Never.

Karina's eyes went wide.

"I beg to differ," Suigestsu mumbled. He paled as soon as I gave him my best glare. He needed to learn how to keep his mouth shut.

Karina looked like she was moments away from hyperventilating. "God, five times. That's so hot. Why didn't I know about this beforehand? _Damn_."

I raised an eyebrow. What was she talking about?

My bodyguard answered my question for me, "I highly suggest you learn how to master talking to yourself in your head."

Damn it.

Suigetsu laughed as I blushed; No, it wasn't necessary a blush because Uchihas did not blush. It was more like a little reddening in the cheeks because it was too stuffy and humid in my office.

"He was only a one night stand…" I mumbled. "That was all."

"I hate to break it to you, boss," Suigetsu said. "But one night stands are supposed to _be one night stands_. That doesn't mean you hook up with the same guy _five times_."

I glared at Suigetsu and remained silent. I knew what one night stands meant; I didn't need him to tell me. I turned my attention to Karin, who was sporting a face-splitting grin. She looked like she was going to burst if she did not say anything.

"What is it, Karin?" I asked very carefully. Karin could be frightening sometimes, especially if she was determined to do something.

Karin's smile did not disappear. "How long is Naruto here for?"

"He is only here for another week."

"I thought you were going to find a way to make him stay?" Suigetsu asked.

"Considering that my asshole of a brother decided to load me with even more work, I highly doubt I can come up with a plan."

Karin beamed and proceeded to give me a hug. After pinching my cheeks, she said in a baby voice, "Oh, is Sasuke-poo depressed because his big, bad, older brother is giving him too much work?" She, ignoring my glare, patted my head. "Oh, don't worry about it. Karin can make you feel better. We are all in this together."

If Suigetsu had no self-control, he would be rolling around the floor, laughing his head off.

"Get. Away. From. Me."

Karin backed up, but did that mean she would leave me alone? Of course not. Karin took a piece of my notepad paper and my pen. "We are going to solve this dilemma."

I just gave her an aggravated look.

Much to my dismay, my aggravated look did not faze my secretary. Karin slammed her fist on my desk; she had a determined glint in her eyes. "We need a plan."

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't understand why Karin and Suigetsu couldn't get the point. I did not want to-

"It's not going to work," I said, hoping that Karin would just leave her planning alone and go back to the job I was paying her to do.

"Must you always be a pessimist?"

"There is a difference between being pessimistic and being realistic," I pointed out. "Naruto claimed that he was not into men, plenty of times. And he lives in Utah and- it's not going to work."

I needed to work on my convincing skills. There were dwindling too fast for my liking.

"So you do like him," Karin cooed rising her eyebrows suggestively. I was convinced that she was enjoying this much more than she should. I did not think I could ever understand Karin; I swore she was in love with me. I bet she was one of those women who liked talking about gay men.

I shook my head, "I like his body; that's all."

"Aww," Suigetsu mockingly said in a baby voice, holding his hands to his chest. "This is so cute. Boss Uchiha is in love…"

"If you value your job and your life, I highly advised you to shut up."

"There is no need to be snappy with me boss; I am simply stating the obvious."

I hated bodyguards.

"Did you see him since you got here?" Karin asked, ignoring the look on Suigetsu and my faces. She couldn't be asking me this question. Seriously, she should know by now that I was meeting up with Naruto.

"I saw him a few times since he arrived here," I admitted. "He told me two days ago that he wanted to see me again though I don't think that-"

Karin finally got off my desk and clasped her hands together. "But you said that he wanted to see you again; that's a good sign! A very good sign!" She gasped. "Maybe you and Naruto were destined to be together!"

"Hn."

Karin and her signs –Karin thought that everything was a sign. If two people looked at each other for a while Karin claimed that it was a sign that they were meant for each other.

And destined to be together? I was convinced that Karin might have hit her head before she came to work. Naruto and I were not destined to be together. All the times we met were just coincidences. Nothing that occurred between us was intentional, or fate, or whatever.

I put my now wrinkled papers into my briefcase; I couldn't do work now. Not with my body guard and secretary talking to me. I should kick them out of my office, but I highly doubted that doing so would solve anything.

I glared at my body guard. "You know Suigetsu, this whole thing with Naruto is your fault…"

"Educate me, boss. Tell how you being involved with Naruto is my fault," Suigetsu replied. He had that smug look on his face as if he was waiting to me to give me a weak response.

I crossed my arms and tried my best not to pout. "Simple, if you did not insist that we should go Salt Lake City for a "vacation" then I would not have never met Naruto."

Suigetsu scoffed. "Don't put all of this on me, boss; you're the one who wanted to go to that club, not me."

"I didn't want to go into that club…" I frowned even more. "You told me that it was a bar. I'm not from Utah, how the hell was I supposed to know that I was going into a fucking club?"

"Well, the loud music and people walking around half-naked should have been an indication of something,"

"Shut up," I refused to lose this fight. Therefore, I decided to blame Suigetsu on something else. I glared at Suigestu/ "Also, you're the one who made me dress like I was some…"

"Porn star," Karin added. She sent Suigetsu and me an amused smile.

Although I did not approve of Karin's word choice, it seemed quite fitting. I nodded, though I did not want anyone to know that I dressed like a porn star-how did porn stars dress? I did not know. "Yes, exactly what Karin said..."

Suigetsu did not appear to be backing down. "Okay, yes, maybe that was my fault, but I didn't tell you to wear that lip ring, now did I?"

Seriously, his counter attack was about lip rings?

And, just for the record, I did not want to wear that lip ring. It made me look like I was a poser of some sort. The reason why I wore it was because I lost some stupid bet to Juugo and promised him that I would wear the ring if I every stepped in a club. I honestly didn't think I would be in the position to do such a thing.

Karin titled her head and smiled. "I have to admit, I do like the lip ring. It makes you look edgy."

My tongue unconsciously went over the spot where the lip ring used to be. I used to wear it when I was in college; don't ask me why. To this day, I was still trying to figure out that answer. I was shocked that the hole was still there; it should have disappeared already.

"I'm never wearing a lip ring again," I declared.

Although, I might make give this another consideration; I recalled a few times when Naruto mentioned how much he liked my lip ring, which didn't mean anything.

My body guard cleared his throat and said, "Look, okay, I'll admit it. This whole Utah thing was sort of my fault, and maybe so was the club. However, I had nothing to do with the fact that you decided to have a one night stand with some guy you managed to seduce. That was all you."

Karin laughed. "You know how to seduce people, since when?"

I narrowed my eyes and scowled. I was tired of being blamed for everything. Therefore, I decided to turn the tables on Naruto. I know, I know, how could I possibly blame Naruto when he wasn't here?

I leaned my elbow on one of my armrests. "Has I ever occurred to you that it was Naruto who started whatever this was…in the club and not me?"

Suigetsu and Karin exchanged looks.

Okay, there was no point on asking this question. Okay, I admitted it. I knew I was the one who started this drama. I was drunk that night. I had far too many beers and shots of Bourbon. I did not know what I was thinking, or why I thought it was a good idea to "hook up" with someone I had only met less than thirty minutes before.

But was I ever going to admit this? Of course not.

Suigetsu was not convinced. He narrowed his eyes, before replying, "I thought you said that Naruto was straight."

Damn him.

I didn't care what Naruto claimed. Straight men did not have sex with other men unless they were gay for pay- I highly doubted that this was the case for Naruto. The idiot probably didn't know what gay for pay meant.

"Straight men do not sleep with other men," I responded and right when I was about to reprimand Suigetsu for being right about everything- I hated when that happened, one of my employees walked inside my office.

The employee- I didn't know her name, timidly walked up to my desk and said in a very low voice, "Mr. Uchiha, you have a call."

I frowned; I was not in the mood to talk to anyone, especially anyone who wanted to talk about this hotel. I had enough bargaining with annoying investors, and I had enough with staying over the phone for hours while I should be doing other much more valuable work.

"I'll get it," I mumbled, shooing the woman away. Karin and Suigetsu did not look like they were leaving anytime soon and I didn't care if they heard my call; they were going to find out about it anyway.

I pick up the phone and said, "Hello, this is Sasuke Uchiha. How can I help you?"

I scowled as the man on the phone talked about why he was calling me. Didn't people know that they couldn't reserve an event the day before?

"What is this event?" I asked, slightly frustrated, though in my opinion, it didn't matter. The person couldn't host an event with such a short notice-

My eyes widened.

"Uchiha Hotels only reserved spaces for events a month in advance" I said, quickly taking a piece of stray paper and a pen, "However, today is your lucky day. Uchiha Hotels and Suites will be more than willing to host your event for tomorrow." I ignored the alarmed looks on Karin and Suigetsu faces.

"Alright, so you will be here tomorrow at nine in the morning. Oh, and you have over five hundred people? That will be fine," I said before I finalized everything over the phone.

Why did I do that?

"Itachi is going to dismember you," Suigetsu said as soon as I hung up the phone. He was dead serious. I did not blame him for being so alarmed –Itachi was going to blow a fuse when I tell him this. "He's going to hang you upside down from the top of the Empire State Building."

"He will not do such a thing. I am the heir to this company."

"So who called?" Karin asked after she gave Suigetsu a quick "what on earth is our boss thinking?" look.

I put the piece of paper in a safe place, and answered, "His name is Kakashi Hatake. He's a televangelist. He needed a new place to host his seminar because more much people came than expected, and he is willing to pay us twice the price. It has nothing to do with the idiot."

Suigetsu scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Of course it doesn't."

I scowled at my bodyguard. The reason why I agreed to let the seminar happen in this hotel was not because of Naruto, but because I was not thinking straight while I was on the phone with Mr. Hatake. That was all.

"I got an idea!" Karin shouted on the top of her lungs. She purposely did not pay attention to the dirty look I was giving her. I thought she knew that I did not like when people are loud.

I rubbed my temples in circles; I was getting a massive headache, and Karin's loud mouth did not help one bit. "What is your idea?" I asked although I had a bad feeling about what Karin was thinking.

"One more date," Karin suggested as Suigetsu nodded. "Go on one more date, and if it doesn't work out then forget about him and let him go back to Utah."

Why was Karin suggesting that I go on yet another date?

I, Sasuke, Uchiha, did not date. That was it. I just was not into having intimate relationships with other people, male or female. It didn't mean I was a cruel person, I just felt that there was no need for a

significant other when I barely had enough time to deal with myself.

Unfortunately, my bodyguard and secretary did not see the same way as I did.

I didn't know why Karin and Suigetsu were so interested in me being with Naruto. They were never interested in my love life- or lack thereof- before.

"Fine," I grumbled. I wasn't in the mood to argue with Karin. So not only did I have to introduce Naruto to Itachi- I was going to come up with every scheme to make sure that this did not happen, but now I had to ask Naruto on yet another date. I thought asking Naruto on that first date was good enough, but no, not for Karin.

Karin straightened her clothes. "Well, I guess I should go back to doing the job I was paid to do." She smirked at me. "Good luck trying to explain to Itachi about this seminar. I really hope he doesn't hire a hit man to kill you."

"Leave," I seethed.

Karin laughed as she left the office; she could be so annoying at times. I knew that Itachi was going to have my head when I told him about this new development; I didn't need my secretary to rub it in my face.

I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. This was going to be a long day.

For the next few minutes, I debated whether or not I should call the idiot. I decided not to, and it was not because I was "chickening out" - Karin claimed that I was too shy to call him; I was an Uchiha. Uchihas were never shy, but because he would not pick up. He was probably still at the seminar- he told me last night, right before I pushed him onto the couch and tried to er...kiss him, that he had to attend a day long church seminar today- and I despised leaving voice messages.

I guess I did not have any choice but to call him into my office.

I scowled and snapped my fingers to get my body guard's attention, "Suigetsu, I need you to find Naruto and bring him here."

Suigetsu stopped before the door and turned to me with an amused look. "I thought he wasn't your boyfriend?"

I scowled at my bodyguard. Why couldn't he just do what I said without any side comments? I wasn't paying him to question me; I was paying him to protect me from my fan base, and to do everything I asked him to do. "Just find him."


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

I loved breakfast; it was the best and most important meal of the day, especially when I craved food right after getting up from a nice, several hour-long nap. It gave me energy for the rest of the day, and it made me feel like there was a reason why I had to wake up at six thirty in the morning.

I felt like I had died and went to Heaven when I walked inside in the breakfast buffet area in the lobby with Megumi. I had never seen so much food in my life; any type of food I could imagine was present, and it was all free. Free food was much more satisfying that paid food; it made both my wallet and my stomach very happy.

Megumi and I planned to meet Chouji, Moegi and Ino for breakfast. Megumi insisted that we should eat together since we hadn't seen much for them in the past few days. I didn't mind, as long as they didn't mention the bastard.

"What are you two doing here?" Ino asked puzzled as she saw my sister and I sit down at the table. "Shouldn't you be at the seminar right now?"

"No. hello?" Megumi jokingly asked. "I expected better from a Yamanaka."

Ino rolled her eyes.

Man, I was starving. I hoped that the hotel restaurant served ramen. I was craving for pork ramen, and maybe a bowl of miso soup. I didn't eat much the past few days, and it wasn't because almost no one sold ramen; it was because of that damn bastard. Yes, he was the reason why I only had one real meal a day.

I sat down at to Chouji, who was too into eating his pancakes to acknowledge anyone's presence. There was so much food on the table, and I bet most of it belonged to Chouji. Moegi sat next to her aunt; she said hello before returning to eating her oatmeal. Ino smiled before taking a slice of bacon - she had a weird obsession with bacon: It was almost as "crazy" as my obsession with ramen. I didn't think that my love for ramen should be called crazy; it wasn't my fault that ramen was so damn delicious.

"The place for the seminar changed," Megumi replied, taking two pieces of toast. I thought she said that she was on a no-carb diet Wait, I thought Ino was on a diet too. I could have sworn she said she wasn't going eat meat for the rest of her life. "Apparently, more people attended the seminar yesterday than expected and we now need a bigger place."

I wasn't surprised that the seminar was moved; I could barely breathe in that other hall. Everyone was pushing, shoving, and fighting over seats. Kakashi's fan girls kept on trying to having a seat in the front row, which caused a fight to break out. It was safe to say that yesterday was pure chaos.

I didn't want to know how the bastard was able to move the seminar to the Uchiha Hotel without getting murdered. Maybe he had connections that he had failed to mention to anyone.

Much to my surprise, the seminar was not as boring as I had expected, but it was all for the wrong reasons. The topics and the speeches were boring as hell, but with all of the chaos that was going on, they were bearable. Kakashi got mauled by fan girls, Anko wouldn't stop trying to find me a fiancée and seducing half of the male population, Lee was chasing Sakura, begging her to give him another chance, and Gai thought it was a good idea to strike random poses at the most random times; he even managed to create rainbow and sunset projections every time he mentioned anything about youthfulness.

That man was the second creepiest man I had ever met- Orochimaru was the first. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to dethrone Orochimaru's creepiness. That man was the poster child for creepers, especially those who like little boys. I was still confused on why no one kicked Orochimaru out of all seminars because of the suspicions of pedophilia. Maybe it was because everyone, including little kids, was afraid of him. Who could blame them? That man was not normal.

"Wow," Moegi said, genuinely surprised. "That's so cool."

"Thank God, the seminar is taking place here," Megumi said with relief before chewing on her toast. "Then I don't have to worry about finding escape routes if things get out of hand. I can just go back to my room." Megumi noticed the glint in my eye- oh, leave me alone, I thought Megumi's escaping idea was terrific. "Don't get any ideas Naruto. Remember, we're stuck here because of you."

I would like to be the first to say that this was not my fault. I stuck my tongue out. "Shut up, Megumi."

Ino laughed, "Well, thank you Naruto for being the reason why we are here. Lord knows how much I love this city. It's like I am destined to stay here. There are so many stores; so many people! I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday… it was amazing. Sure, the rent is expensive as hell. I could probably get a mansion back home for the same price of getting a studio apartment in downtown Manhattan, but I think I can deal with that."

Megumi shook her head and reached for another piece of toast. "You can live here if you want, but I'm going back home. There are too many people in this city. I like peace and quiet; I can't stand all of that beeping and honking."

"I'm with you," Moegi said, nodding. She wasn't a city person. Never was, never would be. She always liked small towns; she told me that far too many times. "I don't want to live in a city that has over eight million people living in it. This city has more people in it than some states."

Chouji didn't say anything. He was too busy shoving five pancakes in his mouth. Seriously, he should start entering food eating contests. I was sure that no one could beat him.

Ino shrugged. "That's your loss." Her face instantly lit up, and she gave a long love-sick sigh, "And to make things better, I think I've found my soul mate."

No one said anything; everywhere she went, Ino found herself a soul mate, and most of the time she didn't even know his name.

Megumi took a butter packet from one of the bowls and a knife so she could start buttering her third piece of toast. "What is his name?"

I bet Ino didn't know.

Ino blushed and looked down at her lap. "I don't know his name, but man…he was gorgeous." She clasped her hands together and put them over her ears. Her eyes turned all lovey-dovey and she started mumbling about getting married and having kids.

Chouji, who had finally decided to take a break from stuffing his mouth with food, frowned at Ino and said, "Don't tell me you're talking about that guy with pineapple hair."

Ino narrowed her eyes and proceeded to throw one of the creamer packets at Chouji. Chouji caught the packet and snorted. "Oh come on, Ino, you know it's true."

"I don't care what type of hair he has," Ino snapped. "I think he's perfect, and I also think he works for the Uchihas…" She slowly turned to me with a determined glint in her eyes. "Isn't that great Naruto?"

I shook my head, knowing where Ino was getting at. "Ino, I'm not going to help you get with a pineapple dude."

Ino pouted and gave me the puppy-eyed look. "Oh, come on Naruto. You have connections, and that's the least you can do for your therapist."

That-!

"Wow, you two are hilarious…" Megumi laughed, "And as much as I would like to hear about your new interest, Ino, I think there is something more important I need to address." She winked at me.

"Like what?" Moegi asked.

"Like the fact that Sakura has set her eyes on a new man," She smirked at my horrified face. "Naruto's boyfriend, to be more specific."

Everyone gasped.

I buried my head in my hands. Oh, how could I forget about this? The seminar, that Sakura and I would be attending, was taking place in this hotel. Sasuke lived and worked here, which meant that he would probably see Sakura and me.

This was going to be bad. Sakura and Sasuke could not meet, because if my ex-girlfriend found out that I was messing with the "love of her life," she was going to kill me, right after she told Tsunade that I liked, no, was attracted to, a guy.

"For the last time," I pointed out, slightly glaring at Megumi. "Sasuke is not my boyfriend."

Ino slammed her fist on the table and said in a booming voice, "I cannot believe Sakura. How dare she does this? She's going to mess everything up!"

Chouji gave me a sympathetic look before returning to his mound of pancakes. I didn't know how he could eat all of that. I mean, if it was ramen, then I could understand. Pancakes, although they were good, were nowhere better than ramen.

Moegi and Megumi laughed.

"Ino," I said, trying to calm my enraged therapist down. There must be a reason why I always got stuck with the crazy therapists. "It's not that serious. It's not like Sakura can get Sasuke anyway; he's not into women."

If I thought that telling my therapist that would calm her down, I was sadly mistaken. Ino stood up from her chair, fuming. She didn't care that she had caught everyone's attention. I was the only one who tried to make Ino stop. Megumi was snickering, Moegi was cheering her aunt on, and Chouji was just sitting there, stuffing pancakes in his mouth.

Ino cleared her throat way too loudly. "No, I don't care what you say, Naruto. Sakura is the enemy. We must stop the enemy. We must bring her down."

I didn't know we were in a war.

Before Ino decided to embarrass herself even more, I pulled her down to her seat. "Ino, you cannot be serious. Don't worry about Sakura. I'll deal with her."

"You said that the last time and looked how that turned out!"

She didn't have to bring that up.

Ino grumbled under breath and sat down in her chair. She still didn't look happy, but at least she wasn't yelling anymore. Megumi leaned forward after glancing at the still fuming Ino, "So what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean what I am going to do? I'm not going to do anything- wait, what are you talking about again?"

Megumi glared at me. "Sakura, you idiot. Sakura. What are you going to do about Sakura? You know she is going to flip when she finds out that you and Sasuke are… _you know_."

"You mean _if_ she finds out, which she won't," I said with a lot of confidence, but deep down inside I didn't have an ounce of assurance that I was going to make it out of the seminar in one piece. I had to stay positive. Pessimism wasn't going to get me anywhere.

Sakura could not find out; that wasn't even an option. I doubted that the bastard was going to come to the seminar. Why would he? It wasn't like he was the reason the seminar was here in the first place? He would probably be stuck in some boring meeting with some other boring people. There was nothing I should worry about. I was positive that the only time Sakura would see the bastard was in magazines, and on that huge billboard in Times Square.

Oh god, I really hoped that I wasn't jinxing myself.

* * *

There was one thing I hated more than not having ramen for a week and that was waiting for this damn seminar to start. I mean seriously, why couldn't it take place during a much more reasonable hour? It was eight o'clock in the damn morning. I wanted to be in bed. I wanted to be in bed dreaming about taking over the Ramen Empire. I sure didn't want to be here, watching people that I really didn't want to see come inside the hotel.

The damned seminar starts in one hour, and I wished I could find a way to get out of this, but Megumi told me far too many times that she would kill me if I left her alone.

I was so bored. Ino and Moegi were at the other side of the lobby, chatting with one of the tour guides. Chouji was still in the hotel restaurant; he was going to get sick from eating all of those pancakes. Megumi was next to me, talking to Tsunade on the phone; thankfully, Megumi was lying the entire time. She made sure not to mention anything about Sasuke. Because everyone was so busy, I had nothing to do, but go people watching.

In the next couple of minutes, the lobby was starting to get crowded. People, mostly tourists and those who were attending the seminar, were pouring in. I recognized some people following Kakashi, begging him to give them a kiss, or at least an autograph. Thankfully, Sakura, Gai, and Lee were nowhere to be seen. Megumi disappeared as soon as Iruka- yes, he was here too, maybe I could persuade him to buy me some ramen- and Kurenai, one of the Sunday school teachers, came into the lobby. I did my very best not to bump into anyone from my church, but that was the least of my worries. As long as I didn't see Sasuke, or better yet, as long as Sasuke did not see _me_, everything would be fine.

I wasn't surprised to see Lee chasing Sakura around the lobby, begging her to be his wife. Sakura looked so irritated that I thought she was going to kill Lee. She shouted, "Get lost!" to Lee, but sadly Sakura didn't know that yelling wasn't going to stop Lee any time soon. Lee was one of the most ambitious and persistent people I had ever known. He would chase after her for the rest of his life if he had to. I almost felt bad for Sakura.

I froze when I saw the last person I wanted to see coming out of the elevators, followed by one of his bodyguards, I believed his name was Suigetsu, and walking toward the receptionist's desk.

Damn it, why couldn't I avoid Sasuke? I didn't think he saw me, but I was sure that his fan base found him– there were thirty plus women surrounding him, asking if he could give them a kiss. Of course, Sasuke ignored them and began talking to the woman behind the desk. I couldn't hear what they were saying, since not only was I on the other side of the lobby, but the screaming going on was too loud for eavesdropping.

Although Sasuke probably didn't know I was in the lobby, I wasn't going to take any chances. Therefore, I hid behind one of the columns and prayed to God that Sasuke would not find me. The columns were huge so as along as the bastard did not-

"_Idiot_."

I turned around to see the bastard standing in front of me. I didn't know how he got here so fast; he was the receptionist desk just a moment ago! I gave him a nervous smile; I didn't want him to think that I was hiding from him.

I stared at him.

He stared at me.

"Hello bastard," I said as quietly as possible. I couldn't let everyone, especially those who lived in my town, know that I knew Sasuke –they would start running their mouths, ask tons of questions and rumors would spread like wildfire. They would definitely demand to know how I knew someone who could pretty much buy all of our homes and probably our town.

And not to mention, Sakura would kill me.

"Aren't you going to give me a hug?"

What?

I glared at the man in front of him. What was going on? The bastard never asked for hugs. "As appealing as that sounds, I can't hug you here; half of my church is in this room as I speak."

Sasuke frowned for a moment, and shrugged. "Oh yes, the seminar. Anyway, where were you last night?"

Last night? Why would he ask me-?

Oh right, I was planning to meet up with the bastard last night but that didn't happen. And this time, it wasn't my fault: Ino got into a fight with one of the hotel guests, and I had to do everything I could not to get Ino arrested. I didn't even know what the fight was about –heck, I didn't think that Ino, herself, knew why she punched some random person square in the face. I think the bottle of Bacardi in her hand had something to do with it...

"It's a long story and I don't-"

"_Kakashi_!"

I turned around to see some middle aged women chasing after Kakashi. The perverted televangelist managed to run around the lobby while reading his equally perverted orange book; I didn't know how he did it. The good thing was that since most of the women were running after Kakashi; that meant I could talk to Sasuke without people suspecting anything.

As soon as I turned back around, Sasuke grabbed my hand and started heading to the elevators. "We need to talk."

I pulled back and snatched my hand away. "First of all, you need to stop dragging me everywhere." I made believe that I didn't see the bastard rolling his eyes. "And second, what do we need to talk about?"

Sasuke sighed. He seemed to be very uncomfortable. "You're going to have to meet Itachi on Sunday."

I blinked. Itachi? As in _Itachi Uchiha_? As in, the man who owned the entire Uchiha Hotel chain? Who was one of the richest men in the country? This was not possible. I bet this was part of Sasuke's plan to molest me again which was not going to happen. I couldn't tell you how long I spent talking to the priest during confession; there was no well in hell I was going to go through that again.

Sasuke looked down and frowned. Okay, so maybe this was not a scheme. He gulped. "Because my brother wants to meet you…"

But why? What could he possibly want with me?

I narrowed my eyes –there must be something else going on; there should be no reason why someone like Itachi wanted to meet with me, a lowly aspiring journalist who was sort-of sexuality confused. "And why does your brother want to meet me?"

Sasuke shrugged; it seemed that he wasn't feeling this idea either. "I wish I knew."

I didn't know what else to say. Though I was still very suspicious, I couldn't just say no. Itachi might send his henchmen after me or something. I sighed and scratched the back of my head, "Fine. I'll meet him, but you have to promise that he won't kill me."

"You're such a dumb ass."

"Shut up you-!"

"_Oh my God_…!"

Wait a second; I recognized that voice from anywhere. It was Sakura's voice and she sounded shocked, so that could only mean-

Oh no, Sakura spotted me!

And the bastard!

_Together_.

Sakura stopped whatever she was doing, gasped, and glared at me before stomping towards me. Before I could make up an escape route, my ex-girlfriend caught up to us. She fixed her skirt and checked herself through her compact mirror. I just stared at her as she prepared herself, Sasuke not even acknowledging her presence.

"Well, hello Naruto…" Sakura said, sounding as sweet as possible. Of course she didn't want to sound like a woman who had cheated on her ex-boyfriend with his ex-friend - who also told said ex-boyfriend yesterday that no one wanted him. No, that would make her appear like she was not a nice person. She smiled sweetly at me before casting her eyes on her new victim. She extended her hand, and said in the most seductive voice I have ever heard from her. "Hello, Mr. Uchiha. My name is Sakura Haruno. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, ignored Sakura's hand and said, "Hn."

Unfortunately, since Sakura did not know Sasuke very well, she didn't get the point that Sasuke didn't want anything to do with her. Therefore, she continued trying to impress the bastard. I knew I should have helped her out by saying that nothing she would say was going to work, but then I decided not to. I thought that sitting back and watching Sakura embarrass herself would be much more rewarding.

Sakura dropped her arm back to her side when she finally realized that the "love of her life" was not going to shake her hand. But that wasn't going to bring her down. She flipped her hair back and smiled widely. "I know we just met and all, but I was wondering if you and I can-"

Sasuke cut Sakura off with a growl. "No." He glanced at me, then back at Sakura, then back at me, and asked, "Who is this woman?"

"Your future wife," Sakura answered, not realizing that Sasuke was clearly speaking to me. She gave Sasuke a seductive smirk and even tried to rub up against him. Sasuke wasn't having any of that, and he shook her off him. He rolled his eyes when Sakura pouted and crossed her arms.

"My ex-girlfriend," I replied, ignoring the rude look from Sakura.

Sasuke nodded understandably. He smirked at Sakura, who had hearts in her eyes. She honestly thought Sasuke was falling in love with her, "So you're the one that Naruto used to date." He nodded again. "Interesting. Very interesting…"

For a moment, Sakura stared at Sasuke as if he had insulted her. But since she believed that she was Sasuke's soul mate, she didn't take anything to heart. She just smiled away and straightened up her clothes –even going so far as to unbutton the top three buttons of her blouse.

Maybe this would be a good time to tell Sakura that showing cleavage was not going to impress Sasuke.

Nah –she was a smart woman; I was sure that she could figure that out by herself. Sakura latched onto Sasuke's arm despite his silent objections- he was glaring at her, and refused to let go. She scowled at me and everyone else who was giving her dirty and confused looks, determined to make Sasuke like her though she wasn't doing a great job; the bastard looked pissed, and was giving his bodyguard "get her off of me," looks. His body guard smiled, waved, and mouthed, "Good Luck."

Sasuke sent him the most deadly glare I had ever seen.

Sakura, realizing that the bastard was moments away from shoving her away, finally let go of Sasuke's arm and blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry my love. You must think I'm a clingy person," She blushed even more and giggled. "I just think you are so dreamy…"

"I don't have time for this," Sasuke snapped and glared at Sakura. "And don't you _ever_ touch me again."

I bit back a laugh. Sakura flinched and apologized. Sasuke rolled his eyes and brushed off some invisible dust off his arm. My ex-girlfriend was not giving up though. Man, I hadn't seen her this determined since she and Ino was competing to impress some guy back in middle school. Sakura took a moment to compose herself, and when she was finally ready, she looked straight into the bastard's eyes and said. "Oh Sasuke, don't be that way. You know, I can rock your world… _literally_."

She winked at the bastard.

The bastard glared at her.

My eyes widened. Did she just offer to have sex with him? I didn't know she was that desperate. I felt like gagging as mental images went through my mind. That was a sight that I definitely did not want to see.

"That is not needed," Sasuke quickly replied, wriggling his arm out of Sakura's grasp. He smirked at me. "I already have someone doing that, and that person is doing a great job."

Yeah, that was not necessary.

Sakura angrily pushed me aside. Apparently, I was in her way. Yep, she was getting into her obsessive mode. She was so blind with "love" that she didn't realize that Sasuke would love for her to drop off the face of the Earth, "Sasuke, you and I- we are meant to be…"

"Sorry. I do not do females."

It appeared that nothing the bastard did or said could make Sakura leave him alone. She gave me a quick glare, as if I as the reason why Sasuke wasn't responding to her the way she wanted. I didn't get her; why was everything my fault? I wasn't the one who told her to talk to the bastard.

The bastard took my hand. "Come on, we have to go."

Why was he holding my hand?

Sakura quickly glanced at me and Sasuke. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers, which was pretty creepy if you asked me, and gasped. "Wait, I think I'm losing my mind –you two know each other?"

"Define know," I mumbled, getting my hand out of the bastard's grasp. I knew where this was going, and I didn't like it one bit. Sakura would eat me alive if she found out that I had been sleeping with her "future husband." We needed to change topics now!

Not to my surprise, Sasuke probably could care less about upsetting Sakura and letting me live another day. His smirk turned evil- and did I mention lustful- and he said very slowly. "Yes, Ms. Haruno," Sasuke didn't remove his eyes from me. "Naruto and I know each other very well…"

I think Sakura caught on to what Sasuke meant, because she raised her eyebrow in confusion when she noticed the look Sasuke was giving me. She gulped and frowned. Then she pouted. Then she glared at me. Then she decided to speak, and boy did she sound pissed, "Okay, can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?"

For the next few seconds, I thought hard about what I should say. Unfortunately, the bastard must have thought I took too long - hey! That was not my fault! I wasn't good with making up lies- because he answered Sakura's question very quickly. "You seem to be a smart woman, what do you think is going on?" The bastard smirked at me.

I blushed.

Sakura froze and took a step back. She had an unbelieving expression on her face. She turned to me and asked in a shaky voice, "Y-you're gay?"

"Well, not exactly…" I replied, scratching the back of my head. This was definitely not going to end well. I really didn't want to talk about this right now.

"He is bisexual," Sasuke answered. I could tell by his tone that he wanted Sakura to leave. His eyes were twitching, and I swore I heard a low growl coming from him. Unfortunately for him, Sakura wasn't going to move anytime soon; she was too mesmerized by the fact that she was standing in front of the "love of her life."

"No, bastard, I do not find other men attractive," I pointed out. I was not going to admit that I was Sasuke-sexual, especially since Sakura was sending me death glares every nanosecond. "And for the record, I like women."

"And men."

"No, just you."

Wait a second –did I just admit to Sasuke that I liked him?

Sakura was not taking this well; I think she figured out what was going on. She took deep breath, glared at me for the third time or was it fourth? I couldn't remember, and asked in a shaky voice, "You two are… together?"

Oh crap.

"No!" I quickly answered. This was not going to end well _a_t _all_. I began to sweat. This was definitely not what I wanted my day to be like –I wanted today to be a nice, calm day, but as usual, what I wanted didn't matter.

Sasuke had a cocky smirk on his face. I thought he enjoyed irritating Sakura. "Define together."

I was tempted to kick the bastard where it hurt. Why couldn't he keep his damn mouth shut? I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Now because of him, Sakura thought we were together. And to make things worse, so did everyone in the lobby. We were getting a large audience, and of course most of them were from my church. I didn't dare look at any of their faces, but I could hear a lot of whispering and gasping. Even some of the hotel employees were watching us. This was so embarrassing; I might have to wear a paper bag over my head for the rest of my sorry life.

"No, no, no! I won't believe this," Sakura shouted, waving her hands like a madman, "My Sasuke is not into men especially people like you." She pointed at me, "No, this is all a big lie. Sasuke and I are meant to be; there is nothing else to it." She shook her head. "Sasuke is mine."

Whoa, possessive much?

Sasuke wasn't taking the fact that Sakura declared him as hers very well. He scowled. He glared. He growled. I swore he threatened to decapitate her under his breath. He looked pissed, but then all of a sudden, his mood seemed to change. Now I didn't know if this was a good thing or not, probably not. He was smirking; nothing went well when the bastard smirked.

When I was about to ask Sasuke what was wrong him- seriously, he was starting to creep me out, he pulled me towards him, and cupped my face with his hands, not caring that Sakura was standing right next to us looking extremely homicidal. I froze and Sasuke gave Sakura one last look before staring into my eyes. "Idiot, this is all your fault…"

What on earth was he talking about? I didn't do anything to him!

"What do you mean-?"

Wait- what the hell was he doing?

_Oh my God…_

The bastard was kissing me in the middle of his hotel lobby.

That was filled with people who went to the same church as I did.

I was dead meat...

I couldn't believe Sasuke just kissed me in the lobby, a crowded lobby, a crowded lobby that contained over a hundred people who would not stop staring at us in complete, utter shock and disgust.

For the most part, everyone was silent except for a few people who were making noise that sounded like giggles. Oh, and I heard Ino and Moegi shriek, pretty loudly. Sakura looked like she was about to faint; Kakashi had a smirk on his face, completely visible behind his mask; Anko's, and about thirty other people's, jaw dropped. The receptionist looked like she was about to cry…

Well, I hope you're happy, bastard! Now thanks to you, members of my church thought I was gay, and the chances of me going back in a peaceful, dramaless state were out the window.

Yes, I had to admit that I expected Sasuke to do something that would get Sakura off our backs, but that didn't mean he had to kiss me in the middle of the lobby.

Sasuke did not even look upset when I pushed him away.

"I can't believe you did that!" I shouted, face red from

embarrassment.

Of course, the bastard took this as an opportunity to completely ruin my life for the umpteenth time- this might be a new talent of his, and said, "What's the big deal? It's not like we haven't kissed before."

But we were in _public_!

Sakura, who was still standing next to us, staring at us in complete horror, asked, sounding like she was about to burst into tears in any second, "What is going on? Sasuke- Mr. Uchiha, why did you kiss him?" She turned her attention to me, narrowing her eyes. She pointed an accusing finger at me. "I bet this was a stunt! I bet you bribed Sasuke with money to kiss you so you could break my heart again!"

Break her heart? What? And why did she think that everything I did had something to do with her?

I chose not to respond to the allegation, but Sasuke did, right after rolling his eyes and giving me an annoyed as heck look. "The homeless people on the streets have money than this idiot." He ignored my glare.

I knew I didn't have much cash, but must he rub it in? My glare intensified. "Really, bastard, really? Can you stop insulting me for once?"

Sasuke did not respond. He only smirked and shrugged. I hated that Sasuke acted like there was nothing wrong with what he just did. That bastard; I would kick his ass if it wasn't for the fact that he had a bodyguard and was so rich that, if he sued me, I would never be able to pay the court fees.

"I cannot believe this shit…" I mumbled. I tried to think of ways to get out of this mess, but, so far, I was empty handed. The whispers from the audience were growing louder.

_"Naruto's gay?"_

I heard someone in the audience say. It sounded a lot like Kurenai. I closed my eyes and prayed that God would teleport me out of this hotel. Or give me a time machine. Now that I was thinking about it, a time machine would be a much better gift.

The man who was the root of all my problems, my ex-girlfriend, who was acting like she needed to be instituted, and I stared at each other in silence. All eyes were once again on us –everyone was waiting to see who was going to make the next move. Well, it sure wasn't going to be me; I was in enough trouble.

The good news was Sasuke was not too fond of Sakura. That meant that Sakura's chances of getting with the bastard were nonexistent. The bad news was Sakura knew that Sasuke had some interest in me; now, she had a reason to dislike me even more. The worst news was half of the church members were questioning my sexual orientation.

Did God hate me?

Sakura's mood turned for the worse. She was giving me the evil eyes, and from the looks of it, she was serious contemplating attacking me. She took a huge step in my directions, raising her first and growled, "If I were-!"

Sasuke took hold of my arm and pulled me back from Sakura's future flying fists. "Back off. He's mine."

The look on Sakura's face rivaled Tsunade's angry expression. Damn, I thought she was going to snap. Her face turned rec, and it wasn't from blushing, believe it! Maybe this would be a good time to get out of her. No, doing so would only make me look like a coward. But come on, I was sure people would understand- Sakura looked homicidal.

Sasuke, who seemed to lack the ability to sense others' anger, only raised an eyebrow.

A part of me felt bad; I hated seeing people so distraught like this, even if they deserved. I held my hand out, trying to get a hold of her. She was making a bad scene and it wasn't going her any favors. "Sakura…"

Sakura back away from, shaking her head. She glared at me and snarled, "No, Naruto you _knew_ I liked him. You knew I wanted to be with him, make him my soul mate and spend the rest of my life with him. But now I understand- you don't even have the decency to care about my feelings…"

I blinked. I didn't know what she was getting at. I didn't do anything wrong. "Sakura, what are you talking about?"

"You stole Sasuke from me, but- you knew I wanted him and because you don't want to see me happy, you bribed him to make sure we couldn't have a future together."

Oh Lord…

Sasuke gave me a dirty look as if it was _my_ fault my ex-girlfriend was in love, more like obsessed, with him.

"I did not steal Sasuke away from you," I said, trying to make this horrible situation better, if possible. I continued as Sakura tried not to burst into hysterics. "I knew Sasuke long before I even knew you liked him. I am not out to get you, I swear to God."

Sakura, as expected, did not look convinced. "I hate you. I hope you burn in Hell," she seethed before turning around and walking into the crowd. I was screwed. Everyone knew what was going on, and I was sure that someone, Anko, had probably called Tsunade and told her everything.

No one in the audience made a sound. The receptions even let some of their phone calls ring on so they could watch us. Anko was still gaping; her eyes grew more by the second. Sakura's interesting reaction almost me forget that nearly _half_ of my church saw me kiss a man, well, it was more like the other way around.

I glanced at Sasuke and sighed. "Sasuke," I began in the calmest voice possible, although I was nowhere near calm. "This has gotten completely out of hand. This whole vacation is getting out of hand. All I wanted to do was go to his damned seminar and fly back home. That's it. No drama. No getting locked your penthouse because of the paparazzi…"

Sasuke glared me; it was more intense than usual. "What the fuck is your problem?" He asked, more liked yelled. He pushed past me, looking pissed off- no, more than that. Damn, I had never seen the bastard this mad.

"My problem? I wasn't the one who kissed me in the middle of the damn hotel lobby!"

Sasuke stopped, turned to me, crossed his arms and spat out, "Well, blame for trying to help _you_ out."

"How did you possibly help me out? You made everything much worse!"

"It is not my fault that you are an idiot…"

"Sasuke, I can't do this anymore," I said, sounding extremely upset. "This-whatever this was, between us has to end. My church members are going to kill me. My parents are going to find out and kill me too, along with my ex-girlfriend. Fuck Sasuke- everyone wants to kill me!"

"Hn."

I just about had it with the bastard and his "hns." Why couldn't he speak like a normal person? Hn was not even a word!

"I'm going back home and there is nothing that you or whoever can do about it. Tell your brother I'm sorry that I couldn't meet with him."

"Fine, leave, like I give a damn what you do with your pathetic life."

I blinked. Wait, that was it? That was all he was going to say? I frowned, so much for him trying to persuade me to still in this blasted city. I watched dumbly as the bastard left the lobby without another word.

Oh terrific, the bastard hated me now. But I shouldn't care about his feelings towards me. I wasn't going to see him again; I would make sure of it. No more going out to clubs or major cities for me.

I took a long, deep breath before heading to the elevators. I did not know what else to do, things like this never happened to me before. Before I could escape, I heard Ino running towards me.

I was going to leave her here, but before I could make up my mind on whether or not that would be a good idea, Ino dragged me to the end of the hall. Thankfully, Ino was the only one who followed me to the elevators. Everyone else was probably still dumbfounded from what they saw.

"Naruto," Ino began, panting as if she had just ran a marathon. "What happened out there? The plan, you're messing up the plan."

"Plan, what plan?" I asked incredulously, shaking my head in disgust. I sat down on a nearby loveseat, glaring up at my therapist. I could care less about Ino's plan. "I'm partially in this mess because of you!"

Ino was taken aback by my outburst. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Ever since I told you about Sasuke you wouldn't shut up about me being homosexual- even after I told you a _million_ times that I wasn't!"

"But, Naruto-!"

I shook my head again and continued, "I don't know where you got this idea from, but you can't just force people to be gay! It just has to happen!"

"I wasn't trying- oh, come on, Naruto, you know me. You know I wouldn't force you to do anything you wouldn't want. I am only doing this to help you get over Sakura." Ino said, slightly frowning. "I just thought you two made a cute couple…"

Ino sat down and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. "Maybe I came onto this gay thing a bit strong, and I am so sorry for that. Look, I promise, on my life, that I will never bother you about your sexual preferences ever again."

I turned to her. I wished I could believe her, I really did. "It's too late for that. Thanks to that asshole, by the time we go home, the entire church is going to know about the kiss."

Ino sighed. "We're going to go to a nice restaurant and forget about everything that happened today, yes?" She said patting my shoulders. She frowned as I rose from my seat. "Don't worry about it, honey. Everything is going to be fine. For now, go to bed. You look like you need a rest."

"Yeah," I mumbled, pressing the elevator button. I was going to need much more than I rest. This would be a good time to have a drink, but then I instantly remembered that alcohol did not do anything but screw up my life.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

I fucked up.

_Bad_.

This was all I could think of as I slid down my chair, in a very un-Uchiha-like manner. I did not even think I locked the office door and frankly, I did not care. If anyone dared to come in, I would just tell them to fuck off and leave me alone before I fired them.

Thank the gods I was finally back in my office, where I should have been from the very start. I ignored the curious looks I received from my workers through the office door, shutting them up by sending my signature glare. They were getting paid to do work, _not_ talk about what happen in the lobby.

Ugh, the lobby…

I put my head on my desk and prayed for a miracle. This day had gone from bad to worse to absolutely dreadful in a matter of a few hours. I was seconds away from getting a massive migraine. Itachi was upset at me for reserving the grand ballroom for the seminar without his permission. And because he was mad, I was given the lovely honor of doing much more paper work than I could handle in a short amount of time.

And last, but certainly not least, the moron hated my guys and was going back to Utah _tomorrow_.

I slammed my fist on my desk.

This was all my fault; there was nothing else to say about it. I kissed the idiot in front of a hundred or so people just to get one of my admirers, who just happened to be the idiot's deranged ex-girlfriend, to understand that I did not want anything to do with her.

I sadly had to admit that I enjoyed kissing the idiot –but that wasn't important. The important thing was that the plan backfired, and because my lack of rationality, the moron was leave and most likely never coming back.

I knew I should not have come down to the lobby earlier; I should have asked about the seminar later on. But no, stupid me thought it was a good idea not to leave things until the last minute and also thought it was a good idea to be nice and let this damn seminar take place here without Itachi's knowledge.

I untied and tossed my tie aside and propped my feet up on my desk. I did not care if I ruined some papers in the process. I was angry, mostly at myself.

"Just to let you know, your boyfriend is checking out tomorrow morning," was the first thing Karina said as she strolled into my office. It seemed that she did not get the memo from the others to leave me alone. "Way before check-out time."

I did not care. The moron could drop off the face of this planet for all I cared.

"Does that even bother you?"

"No."

_Yes_.

Karin narrowed her eyes. "I know you, Sasuke. This bothers you so much that you don't even care about your disheveled appearance. You never come to the office without a tie on unless something is really nagging at you."

"You are nagging at me."

Karin was not impressed by my comeback. "No, I am not. I am only making an observation."

"If you must know, Karin, I am perfectly fine with Naruto leaving," I said, trying to convince myself of this very thing. "If you wants to go, then fine, he can go. He is not my problem."

Karin shook her head. "The first step to solving a problem is to admit that there is one."

"There is no problem."

"Well, obviously there is when your blond lover decides to leave six days early."

Damn, she got me.

I planned to lie to her, make up some story about the moron having issues, but then Suigestu made an appearance in my office. This was bad- he was present during the lobby incident and knowing him, he was going to talk about it until the day he died.

"Man, oh man, boss," Suigetsu laughed, obviously not getting the hint from my other employees that I was not in the mood for his antics. "I thought a wrestling match was going to break out down there."

"Wrestling match?" Karin asked, giving me a suspicious look. Oh yes, she would not know about the incident downstairs. She was at a meeting with my brother, where I should have been. "What is Suigetsu talking about?"

If I was someone else, I would be banging my hand on my desk right now.

"It was not anything worth recalling," I said, hoping that Karin would not pry more on the subject. I glared at my useless bodyguard who just scoffed. "I kissed Naruto."

Suigetsu scoffed again, even louder. "In the _middle_ of a crowded lobby."

Strangling Suigetsu with my tie that was on the floor seemed to be very appealing, but then I would go to jail for murder and Itachi would definitely not approve. I pushed my homicidal thoughts aside and said before Karin could open her mouth, "Yes, Suigetsu, I kissed Naruto in the middle of a crowded lobby –nothing to get excited over."

Karin raised an eyebrow; she knew that there was more to the story than I was letting on. "Really? Something is telling me that you are not telling me the whole story."

I hated Karin and her power to know when I was not telling her everything. It was a horrible power –a power that aggravated the hell out of me. Fine, I would tell her everything.

"I just happened to see the idiot when I walked down to the lobby, and I talked to him for a bit, but then this woman, who had an obsession with me- long story short: I kissed the idiot, and the woman went crazy –no, psychotic- and that was what happened."

Suigetsu scoffed for the third time and shook his head with shame. I wished he actually did his job instead of getting in my business. "Wow, boss, you have to leave stuff-"

He finally shut up when I threw my box of post-it's at him.

"Who was the woman?" Karin asked, slightly disturbed mirroring Suigestu's expression. Now, normally I would be appalled that my two closest associates were afraid of an insignificant woman who had pink hair, but I decided that I would let it go just this one time. Sakuma -or whatever her name was- was a threat to society.

"A demented woman who needs to be institutionalized, and was Naruto's girlfriend," I answered, sounding quite bitter. I did not care. I was in a bitter mood. "I do not want people like her coming into or staying at my hotel."

Suigetsu laughed.

"You can't kick people out of your hotel just because you don't like them," Karin pointed out, fully aware of my bad mood. "This isn't your hotel."

"Go fuck yourself."

Karin brushed off my last comment. That was the good thing about Karin; she never took things to heart. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that," she paused, studying my clearly irritated face. "Anyway, what are you going to do about Naruto?"

Damn it, why did she have to mention that name? I was doing everything to avoid thinking about Naruto, and now, thanks to Karin, I couldn't stop thinking about how I screwed everything up.

"Nothing. I'm done with Naruto and his messed up church –I'm done."

Suigetsu let out a dejected sigh.

Karin, shaking her head, let out a frustrated sigh. Now a normal person who did not know Karin would think that the sigh meant she was going to change the topic, but I knew Karin far too well for my liking. She wasn't done. No, she was nowhere near done.

"My gods Sasuke, I don't know what your boyfriend saw in you. You have to be the most stubborn man –no, person, I have ever met."

"Naruto is not my boyfriend."

"Yeah, sure, and I don't like shopping."

I hated when she was sarcastic.

Karin sat down on my desk, crossing her legs and flashing me an infuriating smirk. That meant she had a plan; a plan that I, by no means, wanted to be a part of. "Oh, I know what _you_ should do."

"What?"

"Tell him."

"Tell him what?"

Karin stared at me in disbelief, as if I was supposed to know what she was talking about. She rolled her eyes. "Tell him that you like him! Damn it, Sasuke! This is not rocket science!"

Contrary to popular belief, I did not like Naruto. Was he attractive? Yes. Was he interesting? Unfortunately, yes. But that did not mean a damn thing. So what if I enjoyed spending time with him even when we weren't… occupied? That didn't mean I liked him. He was loud and obnoxious- two traits I could not tolerate.

Though he did have nice eyes…

Anyway,

"I have a better idea," I said, catching Karin's attention. "Why don't we make believe that Naruto never existed?"

That was a good plan; it would certainly force me to go back to my pre-Naruto life, making my job my number one priority. Although I had not heard any complaints from Itachi about my work- even though he was quite livid with me at the moment and rightfully so, I could feel that I was not working to my fullest potential.

Unfortunately, I was the only one who saw any potential of this great plan of mine; Karin just glared and threw a stray pen at me.

"I have an even better idea," Suigetsu said. "Why don't you, boss, stopped acting stubborn and acknowledge the fact that you want Naruto to stay in New York? And don't say you don't want him to stay here 'cause you do. Then, after you have your little revelation, go find your boyfriend, tell him how you feel, and you _make him stay_."

I needed to hire a body guard and secretary who actually listened to what I said.

"That's a great idea!" Karin shouted, giving Suigetsu a slap on the back. "But we have to do this before three am tomorrow."

"We are not going to do anything by three am tomorrow," I said in a stern voice. Hopefully my dense secretary and body guard would get the point that I did not care if Naruto was leaving. "Like I said before; I am finished with him."

Of course Karin just proved that she was, indeed, a dense secretary.

"Bullshit," She said, "That one hundred and fifty thousand percent bullshit. I don't believe you, and I don't believe that he is going to leave you."

I rolled my eyes; I knew I should have picked someone else as my secretary –someone who would not question or disagree with anything I said, "Well, I suggest you believe it soon. Like you said before, Naruto requested to leave tomorrow."

Which didn't give me a lot of time to-

No!

I shook my head, hopefully doing it discreetly enough to avoid having Karin notice it. This was not the time or place to think about keeping Naruto here. He was leaving and I was fine with it. I even told him that. End of story.

"Karin, you are getting paid to be my secretary, not to be my relationship adviser."

Karin completely ignored anything I had to say and said, "Let's just hope that no one in the lobby will tell some journalist about your kiss."

I frowned; she had a point. I definitely didn't want to be in the tabloids for this, and Itachi would hate me even more than he did right now. The worst thing to do was taint an Uchiha's reputation. I glanced at my smirking secretary. "Do not worry about that; I have it under control."

Maybe I could bride Sasori to bribe, more like threaten, those pesky journalists into keeping my name out of their articles…and I guess they could do the same for Naruto…since the whole kissing incident was my fault.

See how mature I was? I owned up to my mistakes.

I glanced down at the splattered papers on my desk. I really should get started on those before Itachi threw the Uchiha version of a bitch fit. "Karin get back to work. And Suigetsu- do something that does not involve Naruto, this office, or me."

Karin and Suigetsu groaned and pouted as they left my office. I ignored all of their suggestion to go find Naruto. If Naruto wanted to stop everything that went on between us then why should I stop him? Maybe Naruto leaving would be a blessing in disguise –I was perfectly fine before the idiot came into my life, after all.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

I was going home.

Ino and the rest of my companions didn't have to come with me; I didn't want to ruin their vacation because of my never-ending drama. I didn't care what anyone said; I was going to take the first flight back home. I had just enough money to book a ticket for a red-eye flight, early tomorrow morning. I would be able to arrive in Utah before everyone else and never come back to this godforsaken city ever again.

I was stressed out beyond belief. I trudged back to my hotel room and made sure that no one, including the bastard, my friends and the church members, was following me. This day had gone from bad to worse in a matter of minutes, and I was not in any mood to deal with another human being.

My cell phone had been ringing for the past hour, but I ignored all calls. I didn't even check who was calling me. I didn't care –I needed to get out of this city.

Wait- there was someone behind me.

Was that Anko?

Damn it, it was.

Wasn't she supposed to be at the seminar?

Oh no, don't tell me what the seminar was now canceled because of what happened in the lobby. I didn't want that to happen; I had to escape the east coast without anyone noticing me.

This was not my day.

I thought about turning around and walking the other way, but that would have been too cowardly, even for me. Instead, I continued walking until Anko was a couple of feet in front of me. She took a step back in surprise, not noticing that I was approaching her.

"Oh my, Naruto, I didn't even notice you were there. How are you?'

How was I? My crazy ex-girlfriend, who was in love with the man I was sleeping with, was out to get me and my head; the bastard was acting like the bastard he was; half of my church saw said bastard kiss me, and there was a possibly that I couldn't go back home, which was bad considering I wanted to escape this city as soon as possible.

But other than that I was fine.

Of course, I couldn't tell Anko that.

"I'm fine," I muttered. Hopefully, Anko wouldn't catch my lie –I was told by many people that I couldn't lie my way out of a paper bag, which was definitely not true. I made up some very believable lies, although they ended up biting me in the ass.

Anko gave me an "I know you are lying to me" smile. She glanced at my suitcase, back at me, then scrunched up her nose and shook her head. "You're leaving the seminar early?"

"I'm taking the first flight back home," I responded quite proudly, though there was nothing to be proud about. My life had just gotten worse, and I didn't even think that was possible. Well, until now.

Anko just stared at me. It was a bit creepy. I didn't know what the woman was thinking, but, knowing Anko, it was something bad. We stared at each other in silence until Anko asked. "I was not aware that you like kissing men. Quite an interesting development, don't you agree?"

I groaned.

Okay, this was what I was going to do. I was going to apologize and direct all blame to the king of all bastards. Then I was going to mention about how I was well aware that boys kissing boys was very bad and the kiss would never, ever happen again.

"Ms. Anko. I cannot express how sorry I am about what happened in the lobby. Trust me, I didn't see it coming, and I know it was wrong but it wasn't my-"

Anko held her hand up to silence me and said, "Please, Naruto, save it. Do not worry about a thing."

I raised an eyebrow, wondering if I should be nervous or not. A member from my church was not going to interrogate me or yell at me for what happened in the lobby? That was blasphemous! There must be something going on that I didn't know about.

"You're not mad at me?"

"For what, kissing a man who is drop dead gorgeous?" Anko laughed, shrugging. "Sure, they are some who won't talk to you ever again thanks to the actions performed downstairs, but whatever you do in your personal life is between you and God." She paused, rubbing her chin. "Now that I think about it, it makes complete sense. Now wonder you don't want to have anything to do with the women I pick out for you."

"Ms. Anko, I'm not-"

Anko cut me off again. "My lips are sealed. I swear I won't tell your mother about what happened, but don't be surprised if she finds out. You know some people in our congregation do not know how to keep their mouths shut."

Maybe going home right now wouldn't be such a good idea.

Maybe going home right now wasn't such a good idea. I should stay in New York for another several months, and then Tsunade and Jiraiya would miss me so much that they would temporary forget about the guy kissing me thing.

Anko inched closer to me, with a sly smile across her face. "Can you answer just this one question: how do you do it?"

"How do I do what?"

Anko's shoulders slumped as if she was disappointed that I didn't know what she was talking about. "Seduce one of the richest and finest men in the country?"

I could feel my face turning red. This was definitely _not_ the conversation I wanted to have with a church member when I was hours away from leaving this city for eternity. I scratched the back of my head and honestly replied, "Uh, I don't know…"

Anko gave me a skeptical look. I didn't know how to answer her question. To this day, I didn't understand what the bastard wanted from me.

"Ms. Anko, I really don't know," I said again. "But as much as I want to continue this conversation, I have to finish packing now."

Anko narrowed her eyes and walked away without saying anything else.

Weird.

I shrugged off Anko's weird behavior and continued walking –I must say this was the longest walk down a hall I had ever experienced. My room wasn't even that far from Ino's, but it was taking forever to get there. I mean, how can-

Who the hell was calling my phone so many times?

I stopped and checked to see who was blowing up my phone. It took all of my willpower not to start crying- Tsunade was on the other line, and I had a feeling I knew the reason why. I thought about ignoring her, but then I realized that I should get everything over with so by the time I got back to Utah, Tsunade would have forgotten about everything.

I prayed.

I prayed again.

I even prayed for a third time, but I was interrupted halfway by my annoying 'Single Ladies' ringtone.

I really should change that.

I took a deep breath, silently hoping that Tsunade wouldn't kill me over the phone, before I touched the green call button on my phone. I slowly raised it to my ear, preparing myself for the worse and said in the most stable voice I could make up, "Hello?"

Tsunade found out.

Why was I not surprised?

"Mom, I can explain," I said in a pleading voice as Tsundae continued to yell over the phone. She was so loud that I couldn't even catch what she was screaming about.

No, I couldn't explain anything. I couldn't tell her that I met a man, who just happened to be the heir to a high-end hotel chain, at a club when I was supposed to be somewhere else. And _then_ had sex with him, ran into him a few days later in not only an airport, but at his hotel, had sex with him again, and got kissed by him in the middle of a crowded hotel lobby that consisted of our church members.

No, that wouldn't sit too well with her.

_"I knew it! I just knew it! That was why I sent you and Megumi to that church seminar."_

That explained a lot.

_"This is quite something- well, you will always have a home here, but don't think you can come back now and expect everything to be the same! Apparently, half of our church found out about your little rendezvous with that man! And what was his name anyway?"_

I sighed and rubbed her forehead. The fact that I did not lose my hearing amazed me. "Sasuke Uchiha."

"_Sasuke Uchiha_?" Tsunade sounded shocked. "_Doesn't he own a hotel_?"

"No, his older brother, Itachi, does. Sasuke is the heir."

_"How did you manage to meet someone like that?"_

"It's a long, complicated, story that I really don't want to get into right now."

_"Fine don't tell me!"_ There was a long pause. "_My God, I cannot believe this…"_

"Trust me, I can't either."

_"A man?"_ Tsunade paused. _"Since when did you like kissing men? I thought you liked women? Not men… my God Naruto. You are going to be the death of me."_

"But- it wasn't like that!" I said, hoping that Tsunade would buy my excuse, "Sakura was acting crazy. He just did it to keep Sakura's mouth shut- shit- she tried to kill me!"

_"Sakura?"_ Tsunade questioned with surprise. I couldn't blame her. Not many people knew how psychotic my ex-girlfriend from hell could be._ "Sakura would never do such a thing! How dare you talk about someone as wonderful as Sakura? Why I ought to-!"_

My right ear started to hurt from Tsunade yelling on the phone. I needed to hang up on her right now but I needed to do this without sounding rude. The last thing I wanted was Tsunade to think that I didn't like talking to her over the phone.

I decided to use the "I can't talk to you because my phone battery is running extremely low" excuse.

"Mom, I'm sorry. I don't mean to cut you off but my phone is about to die in any second," I continued before Tsunade could. "I'll call you back tonight, and, by the way, I'm flying home tomorrow. I already booked the ticket and everything. Megumi is staying in New York until the seminar ends. Love you, bye."

I hung up the phone.

Believe it or not, that phone call ended much more smoothly than I thought. I was expecting for Tsunade to send a hit man after me- okay, maybe I was exaggerating a bit. The one, and only, person I could see Tsunade sending a hit man after was Jiraiya.

I sighed in relief as I put my phone back in my pocket and continued walking this very long walk back to my room.

"Naruto!"

I stopped.

Really, God, _really_?

I knew that voice from a mile away. I prayed to God that I wouldn't have to suffer a premature death, and turned around to face the last person I wanted to see- and this time, I wasn't referring to the bastard.

Oh man, Sakura was back. I thought she was going to go away.

I groaned; this was not good. I knew why Sakura was approaching me, and I really didn't want to hear her yell at me about something that I had no control over. It was not my fault that the bastard kissed me. Of course, Sakura wouldn't believe me- but, I gave her too much credit, thinking that she would get the point that Sasuke didn't like her when he said that he did not like women.

Maybe she had selective hearing?

Oh damn…

I made the mistake of watching Sakura walk up to me as if she was moments from having the fight of her life. Sakura looked a mess; her hair was going in all directions, her eyes were red- probably from all that crying, her clothes appeared to have gone through heck and a half, she was barefoot, and she looked angry. Sakura was scaring everyone who walked, more like ran, past her.

I didn't know if I should stay or follow the crowd and run away.

What was I thinking? I was Naruto; I could handle my psychotic ex-girlfriend.

Before I could say or do anything, Sakura stomped up to me and slapped me hard across the face, "I cannot believe you did this to me! Me! And now, you somehow turned Sasuke gay!"

Actually, it was more like the other way around, but telling a fuming Sakura this wasn't going to be such a smart idea. I scowled at her. "What is wrong with you?" I asked, rubbing my face, "And for your information, the bastard- I mean, Sasuke- was already gay. I had nothing to do with it."

Of course, Sakura didn't believe me. "I could never forgive you for this!"

"And I can never forgive you for cheating on me with my good friend!" I shouted back at her. I couldn't believe she was trying to play the victim. If someone was the victim, it should be me! Sakura had no idea what I went through.

"You cannot be serious. Like I had told you before," Sakura said. "This has nothing to do with what I've done with Lee. We're talking about Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sakura, what is there to talk about? He doesn't _like_ you," I shot back, getting irritated. Sakura could be so stubborn and in denial when she wanted to. "Why can't you understand that?"

Sakura didn't take my answer too well. She tried to murder me with her glare, then crossed her arms and asked in a mocking voice. "Oh and I suppose that my Sasuke likes you?"

I guessed he did. I never knew what went through the bastard's mind.

"I don't know- but, he does not love _you_. He doesn't even want to be around you. Come on, Sakura, didn't you realize that downstairs?"

"You are a horrible person," Sakura seethed. ""You think that just because you may know him better than I do that you know everything. But I hate to break it to you, but I'm going to be the one who sleeps with him. Just you watch."

Sleep with him?

Damn, Sakura wasn't playing around.

"Hate to break it to you, but he already did- with me." I held three fingers up. "Three times."

Sakura's eyes grew wide, and she began making choking sounds. She looked at me, hurt, mumbled something under her breath, then turned to leave, but not before giving me another slap across the face. I was going to yell at her about how she couldn't keep slapping me when she wanted to, but I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to avoid talking to Sakura at all costs.

Sakura stopped, turned around and glanced at my suitcase. "Don't come home, Naruto…our town doesn't like gay men."

"I'm not gay," I said quite harshly. "I'm a straight man that happened to like one guy –a guy that you seemed to be freakishly in love with."

Sakura scoffed and left.

I wouldn't mind if I never saw her again.

"Oh God! Naruto, thank God I saw you!"

Great, Ino.

Was there a reason why I kept on bumping into people that I didn't want to see?

I stopped and decided that maybe I should wait and listen to what Ino had to say. Maybe she had some sense knocked into her and decided to stop bothering me about my orientation. Not surprisingly enough, though, Ino's attention was on the suitcase I was carrying. Her eyes widened a bit before looking at me. "You're leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning, bright and early."

"All because the guy you like kissed you in the lobby?'

"First of all, I- ugh, yes. I'm leaving because of that."

There was no point on lying. Ino knew why I was leaving.

"But Naruto," Ino said. "It wasn't that big of a deal. Sure, some of your church members may not like you know- but did you see that look on Sakura's face? That was priceless." She paused when I glared at her. "Anyway, I don't think you should go home because of that; running away isn't going to help anyone."

Okay, fine, maybe I should man up and not run away from my problems. Maybe I should see Sasuke and demand what on earth was going on with us and explain to him about Sakura. Maybe I should tell Sakura that Sasuke was never going to be with her. Maybe I should tell the members of my church that I was not, by any means, gay. Unfortunately, I was not in the mood to do any of those things, and that was why I planned to leave this city as soon as possible.

"At least let us come with you?"

I shook my head, "Don't let my issues mess up your vacation,"

"Let me help you," Ino suggested, extending her hand. "I can try to make things better."

"Ino" and "make things better" should never be in the same sentence.

There was nothing Ino could do to make anything better. She already caused enough drama –and, now that I thought of it, she was one of the main causes of this insanity. If she didn't leave me with the bastard back at the airport, then none of this would've happened.

Yes, this was half Ino's fault, and half the bastard's fault.

"Ino," I said, slightly annoyed. All of a sudden, I was starting to get a massive headache. "No offense, but I don't think you can help me with anything."

Ino just stared at me. I might have hurt her feelings –I didn't mean to be mean but that was the truth. Wasn't telling the truth a good thing? Ino's dumbfounded look turned into a hardened glare. Oh damn, she was mad.

"Really? I can't help you out with anything. After all the things I did for you-"

My headache and the constant ringing in my ears forced me to tune Ino out. I didn't catch everything she was saying, but apparently, she was mad about how I didn't appreciate her and how I was blaming her for everything, which was not true. I was only blaming her for the things that actually were her fault.

"…and just because your life is messed up doesn't mean you have to take it out on me!" Ino shouted, looking extremely hurt, "It's not my fault –I was trying to help you out!"

"Well, so far the only thing you have done successfully is make my life a living hell!"

Did I just say that?

I didn't mean to snap at Ino, but I was started to feel aggravated all over again. All I wanted to do was go to my room and pack. That was all –no talking to therapists, church members, or ex-girlfriends- none of that.

Ino shook her hand and ran away.

Oh god, maybe I was too harsh to Ino. I didn't mean to sound so…mean, but I had to get that off my chest. I was going to chase after her and beg for her forgiveness, but then I looked at my watch and realized that I was falling behind on my schedule.

I would apologize to her later on.

Why did my life have to turn into a shitty soap opera?

* * *

I couldn't believe I was reduced to this.

I was bored; I was aggravated; I was pretty pissed off and to top it off, I was starving. And even with all of those things, I still didn't dare to leave me room. I couldn't go out there, not when Sakura _and_ half of my church _and _my friends and sister _and_ the bastard staying in this hotel. It wasn't safe out there. I had to remain safe and remain in my room, _alone_, until three am tomorrow.

And to really top it off- for some reason that I was afraid to think of, I sort of, kind of, missed Sasu- the bast-

Never mind.

It was nine o'clock at night; the seminar had ended about four hours ago. As far as I knew, everyone and their mother were looking for me; some even banged on my door countless times, only to leave when I acted like I wasn't here. I knew I shouldn't be hiding from everyone, but I had an excuse. Thankfully, I only had a few hours left before I had to check out of the hotel and I was officially packed.

My phone had been ringing off the hook for the past hour, but I refused to pick it up. Everyone I knew was calling me, even those back in Utah, except for the bastard. Not that it mater since I wasn't going to hear or see him ever again after three am.

Damn, the simple fact that I was _alive_ after today still amazed me.

You'll be fine, Naruto, I kept on telling myself, you are going home in less than three hours.

I didn't know why, but the thought of going back to Utah didn't seem as appealing as before, and this time it wasn't because I worried about how the people there would think of me.

It could be because I could sense that the moment I arrived home, I was going to get interrupted by every living soul in my town. Even my nieces and nephews were going to question me. I wasn't ready for that, at least not right now. Could you blame me? Do you know the crap I have been going through ever since arriving in this hotel?

I could already picture Tsunade being the first interrogator. She didn't sound too happy over the phone. Hopefully, she had enough problems with her husband to forget about me. Speaking of the perverted preacher, Jiraiya was going to flip out beyond belief when I returned and then most likely try to excommunication me to some place in the middle of nowhere. . Oh well, at least Megumi didn't seem to care about my drama, but she was here all this time so I supposed she wouldn't count.

It was now nine-thirty.

Maybe I should try and take a nap.

I stood up from the couch, instantly regretting doing so. I had been sitting down for so long that my legs and feet fell asleep. I almost fell as I tried to get to my bed, clothes falling on the floor before I crawled into the bed that felt like it cost thousands to buy.

I was determined more than ever to fall asleep.

Since, you know, this was going to be the last time I slept _anywhere_ in New York City.

Damn it! Why couldn't I fall asleep?

I tried everything; I counted sheep God knew how many times; I tried not to open my eyes. I blind folded myself. I put a pillow on top of my face, but I didn't want to die so I quickly took it off, and I tried listening to super slow songs –which didn't help at all since they were those "I love you" and "baby, come back to me" songs. Anyway, the point was that I literally tried everything- that didn't endanger my wellbeing, since I couldn't go home if I was dead- possible.

And, of course, nothing worked.

Why was I not surprised?

Maybe I should have taken those sleeping pills?

No, but that meant I would have had to get a doctor's prescription in the next five minutes, which would never happen.

Gah!

Why was this happening now? When I most needed it? I was fine this whole week. I didn't have sleeping issues. I didn't have issues at all that didn't involve the bastard, Sakura, Ino- well, you get the point.

Okay, I got this. All I had to do was figure out what was different from now compared to the other nights.

This should be a piece a cake.

Hmm.

Trying to come up with a reason for insomnia while I was dead tired was not easy.

I got nothing.

Damn it.

Okay, let's try it again.

And again.

And for the third time.

I got!

I think.

_Shit_.

…wait, that couldn't be the reason because that would mean-

Never mind; that was a dumb explanation.

Man, I hated thinking about things when all I wanted to do was fall into a deep slumber, but couldn't. Though I shouldn't sleep that deeply because then I would miss my flight, which, under no circumstances, could happen.

That was it. No more thinking; this was the time to take a nap before I would miss my flight out of exhaustion. I grabbed my pillow and held it close, hoping that maybe the pillow, that looked pretty expensive, too, would give me inspiration to go to sleep.

Yes, I think it was working-

I had to sadly admit, sleeping alone was _bizarre_. I mean, it wasn't like I had never done this before; I slept alone for the past twenty or so years. But for the past few nights, I had somehow found myself sleeping the bastard's bed- by the way, I wasn't supposed to mention it, but the bastard was a reluctant cuddler.

I didn't know what was going on. I should be grateful that I didn't have to worry about someone groping me or whispering perverted things into my ears as I tried to sleep, but for some reason, I sort of-

Oh mother of God…

I missed the bastard.

This was not supposed to happen!

"Damn it!" I shouted, getting out of my bed and putting on random clothes that laid on the floor –it was one in the morning; I could care less about what I was wearing. I took my keys and phone and rushed out of my room, then running to the elevators and pushing the up elevator button.

When I arrived at Sasuke's room, I knocked on his door. Now, there was a possibility that the bastard wanted my head on a silver platter and didn't want to talk to me –which was fine. I sort of deserved it, sort of. But I was giving it a chance even so, since I was going to see him again.

I was pleasantly- no, wrong word, uh… shockingly surprised when the bastard opened his door. Hey, maybe he wasn't that mad at me after all? Maybe he had suddenly decided to function like an ordinary human being and mastered the art of forgiving?

"Hi-"

The bastard had the nerve to slam the door in my face. Sure, I was kind of expecting this, but, who did that? This was not middle school. We were adults, and we did things the adult way. I knocked on the door again. Sasuke's bodyguards just happened to walk pass by while I was doing this and, thankfully, all they did was greet me and continue on their way.

Odd.

"Oh come on bastard!" I shouted as I began banging on his door. "We need to talk!"

I did this for the next fifteen or so minutes.

My hands were starting to hurt from all of the banging. It was no use; the bastard was a bastard and he wasn't going to open the door. Well, forget him. I was going to apologize and give him a goodbye, but since Sasuke was acting like there was a twenty-foot pole shoved up his ass, as opposed to the normal ten-foot one, he didn't deserve any of that from me.

I gave one last bang, before giving up. I knew the bastard was in there. Unfortunately, I managed to memorize Sasuke's work schedule –though it wasn't really that complicated. The bastard had a pretty boring life.

"Asshole…"

I was going to walk away and curse Sasuke in every way possible, but I stopped as soon as I heard Sasuke slowly open his door. The bastard looked more disheveled than usual –he still had a suit on, but it was all over the place. He had bags under his eyes, and looked much more aggravated than normal –if that was possible. He had a mean scowl on his face, and he was looking at me as if I was one of his fan girls who came to attack him.

Sasuke crossed his arms and just stood there, staring at me. And I stared him. After a few moments, the bastard decided to end the staring constant and stepped aside, indicating that I could come in.

I wasn't sure about this plan anymore. The bastard was looking quite homicidal. Not as much as Sakura did earlier, but damn if it wasn't close enough.

This was probably, no –it was going to be the most awkward and painful conversation I would ever have. I scratched the back of my head as I walked further into the suite. Damn it, I didn't know what to say. Okay, fine, I did know what to say, I just didn't know _how_ to say it. The bastard wasn't like the others; he took things in much differently than normal people.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, quite rudely, if you asked me. He was glaring at me, and this time, it wasn't his normal glare; this was his death glare times a million. Damn, if I knew it was like that, I would have kept my butt in my room where it was safe. Sasuke's face turned into a scowl when I didn't answer. "Moron, I believe I asked you a question."

"We need to talk."

"There is nothing to talk about."

Was it bad that I wanted to punch Sasuke and kiss him at the same time?

My God, I didn't think I had met anymore as stubborn as the bastard in my life. I, a person who had to take a flight in a few hours, was willing to give up sleep- well, not really since I couldn't sleep in the first place, but that didn't matter- to speak to the king of bastards, and what did I get in return? Sasuke's assholeness.

Ugh, why did I even like him?

Whoa, where did that come from? I didn't like Sasuke. He was too much of a bastard and an asshole. And most importantly, he was a guy, who likes other guys, who I was convinced liked me, which was okay in my book since I did like-

Gah!

No, I didn't!

"I'm waiting."

Trust Sasuke to interrupt my inner battle.

"Shut up!" I snapped. It wasn't my fault that I didn't know what I should be saying. I pointed a finger at him. "You're an ass!"

"And you're an idiot," Sasuke shot back, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Don't waste my time with your stupidity. I may be an _ass_, but at least I'm not the one who doesn't know what I want –wait, correction, you _do_ know what you want, you're just too stupid to accept it."

That- that bastard!

Because I specialized in acting before thinking, I pushed Sasuke, hard, against the wall and punched him square in the face. Sasuke looked surprised, but that was quickly replaced by anger as he punched me in the stomach. I stumbled back, bending over and clenching my stomach in pain, the punch hurting much more than I would have thought. I quickly stood up and lunged at the bastard. I didn't care that this was not the smartest thing to do, since; after all, Sasuke was an heir to a hotel chain. Sasuke stuck his leg out, causing me to slip and fall on my back.

"Fuck!" I shouted once I hit the floor, dragging a lamp that I tried to hold on to along with me. I tried to get up again, but I was pushed back down by Sasuke, who then proceeded to climb on top of me.

"You're such a moron."

I spit in his face.

Sasuke punched me again then grabbed my chin with one hand, wiping my saliva off his face with another. "You need to calm the fuck down."

I glared at him, and was ready to form a fist, before the bastard grabbed both of my hands and pinned them above my head.

Damn it. I was trapped.

Why was Sasuke breathing down my neck?

And why was I liking this?

"Are you going to stop, or are you going to be a dumb ass and try to hit me again?"

I was tempted to yell at him, but I didn't. I glared at him instead, and tried to kick the bastard, but I couldn't reach. Huffing and puffing, I tried to push the bastard off. "Get the hell off of me."

Sasuke gave me one last glare before letting go and standing up. I stood up soon after. My stomach and my face burned –damn, I didn't know the bastard was this strong. I rubbed my cheek and continued to glare at Sasuke, who was also glaring at me. He took a piece of tissue from his pocket and put it on his nose, where I had hit him.

It was nothing but silence for a minute.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke quietly mumbled before putting the bloodied tissue in the garbage can.

"I'm fine," I said much harsher than I intended. Damn it, my face still hurt. If I had a good lawyer I would have been suing the living daylights out of the bastard right now- no, that would be a bad idea. He was not

the only one delivering punches.

Wait a second –why were we fighting in the first place?

Right. I was here to talk to the bastard –well, more like apologize to the bastard before I took a nice, long flight back home where I didn't have to worry about dealing with the bastard and his bastardly ways.

That's right everyone, I was leaving and never coming back.

The broken glass that used to be a lamp caught my attention and my eyes widened in horror. Crap, I was going to get sued big time for messing the bastard's things up. I gulped and glanced at Sasuke, who was sitting on the couch, wearing a confused expression on his face.

"Sorry about the lamp?" I cautiously said, shrugging. I was really bad with starting conversations, especially after breaking a lamp that I couldn't afford. "I'll pay for it. How much did it cost?"

Sasuke gave me a blank look then glanced at the destroyed lamp. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Don't worry about the lamp. I didn't like it anyway."

I didn't like where this was going.

We were silent again.

This was not how I expected this conversation, or lack thereof, to go.

"I can't stay here long. I have a flight to catch," I began, feeling slightly nervous. "I know we ended on the wrong foot earlier today, so I'm here to apologize. And sorry about Sakura." I paused. "I don't know what is up with her; she was fine a month ago."

Was there a reason why the bastard wasn't saying anything?

"I also came here to say goodbye since chances are I won't be coming back to this city. Oh, and thanks for paying for the rooms. I know you hate when I mention that, but you have no idea how much you helped me out by doing that."

Still nothing.

"Uh… and tell your brother that I'm sorry about not being able to meet him…" I paused again. It was annoying being the only one willing to talk –I felt like I was in a one way conversation.

Sasuke turned to me with an unrecognizable expression. "Shouldn't you be heading to the airport about now? Queens isn't close –though you can get there relatively fast, since it's so early in the morning."

I couldn't believe this!

"You're kidding me," I blinked. "You're fucking kidding me. That's all you have to say?"

"What the hell do you want me to say?" Sasuke responded, frowning. He was getting aggravated again. "Fine. Goodbye. Have fun in Utah."

I narrowed my eyes; there must be something more to this, right? I mean, this was _Sasuke_ I was talking about. Although his life was boring, he was a very complicated person. It was like you had to analyze what he was saying to understand what he was saying. It was quite tiring, I tell you, tiring.

I looked at the clock. Great it was one thirty in the morning already. I didn't think it was possible, despite with the bastard , who was hiding something from me that I just _had_ to find out, claimed, I wouldn't be able to get to the airport on time. Well, this was terrific –three hundred dollars down the drain, and now I had to book another flight before I somehow convinced myself to stay.

Don't ask me why I just thought of that; I didn't know why I did either.

"Will you care if we never see each other again?"

Stupid, stupid, stupid question…

"What I care about doesn't matter."

In the weird language of Sasuke, called "bastardian," that was a yes. Seriously, why wouldn't he give me a straight forward answer for once? He could have just said yes like a normal person.

"You know, you could have just said yes."

"Hn," the king of bastards gave me a suspicious look and crossed his arms. "What is the point of this conversation? And why are you really here?"

How the hell would I know? That's just it –I didn't know why I was still here. I said what I needed to say, and therefore I should go back to my room, get my bag, and rush to the airport before my flight, that I would most likely miss anyway, left. Unfortunately, I didn't think my legs were going to let me leave this room anytime soon.

Damn it. Why did Sasuke ask me questions that I didn't know the answer to?

"The point is… uh…" Yes this was a great time to start sounding stupid in front of the heir of a hotel chain who had serious normal-human communication issues, "The point is…that I don't know if I should leave New York right now…" I scratched the back of my head. "I'm pretty much thinking of reasons why I should go home… or not…"


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Why did I always find myself in these situations? All I wanted to do was say good bye to the bastard, then leave for LaGuardia Airport. That was all! It was that simple, but did this happen? Of course it didn't. You know why? It was because everyone, including the Lord, was against me, and therefore the bastard thought it was a wonderful idea to start-

Oh god…

My eyes widened and I pushed the bastard, who wasn't making any signs that he wanted to stop doing whatever he was trying to do, away. "Sasuke- what the hell?"

No seriously, what the hell? And how on earth did we get into Sasuke's bedroom? And why was Sasuke kissing my hand, and why wasn't I stopping him?

Honestly, I was five –no, two steps away from walking out of the door. Two steps from returning back to my old life. Then the bastard had the nerve to jump me and well, you could guess what happened after that. Two steps!

Sasuke didn't seem to be taken aback by my actions. He just simply shrugged and acted like nothing happened. He stood in front of me and ran his hands up and down my chest. I froze, not knowing what to do. The bastard had a predatory look in his eyes and, for some reason, I sort of liked it.

And apparently, so did little Naruto.

Sasuke's hands stopped my bottom of my shirt and he gave me one last look before unbuttoning the buttons. I let out a small sigh as the bastard's fingers softly brushed along my bare skin.

"You said you needed a reason why you should stay. Well, I'm giving you one."

I tried my very best to glare at him. I knew the bastard was going to be up to his old tricks again! He acted too normal when I first came here. He didn't push me into a closet and try to make me do wrong things like he always did. See, I knew he was being too suspicious. "Wait –you're trying to seduce me into staying here?"

Sasuke's hands stopped and move down to my jeans. The bastard looked straight into my eyes. "I am quite surprised you have caught on so fast. I thought your tiny brain could not handle processing that much information."

Only the bastard would insult me while he was trying to take my clothes off.

If it wasn't for that the fact that I was, you know, getting horny, I would have punched him in the face. Thankfully, my brain hadn't shut down yet, so I was still able to get to the bottom of this. But before I could do anything, the bastard pushed me up against the wall. Great. This was not going to end well. At all. I pushed Sasuke's wandering hands away. "Bastard, hold on…"

Sasuke closed the space between us, grabbed my hips and proceeded to grind up against me. I couldn't do anything. I rolled my eyes back and groaned as the bastard moved harder against me. I was going to say something along the lines of telling the bastard to stop, but I was cut off when Sasuke crushed his lips onto mine. The kiss started out slow, but it quickly intensified as soon as the bastard started using his tongue.

I harshly and regrettably pushed Sasuke away. "Damn, it! I said hold on!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, called me a loudmouth moron and then pulled me into another kiss.

That was it. I was done. See, if he wasn't using his tongue like that, then I wouldn't be so brain dead, and therefore unable to find a way to get to the damn airport in one piece. Not that I was really complaining. Unfortunately, I learned to like the bastard's kisses even when they occurred during the most inopportune times. It wasn't fair; it wasn't fair at all.

"Sasuke…" I breathed out. He seriously needed to stop touching me like this. It wasn't good for my sanity. My eyes closed when the bastard grabbed my hips and started moving them along his. My eyes closed again. My breaths were short, and I was pretty sure I heard the bastard moan, but, thanks to the bastard's moving hips, I couldn't tease him about it. I wrapped my arms around Sasuke's neck, pulling us closer to each other –if that was possible. "Don't stop…"

The next thing I knew, I was shoved onto the bed. I didn't even bother questioning how I got there. I leaned up on my elbows and looked at the bastard, who was mumbling something while taking his shirt off. I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you-?"

I was cut off by the bastard's lips. I groaned into the kiss. Don't tell me we were going this again. All I wanted to do was go to the airport. That was all. Okay fine, maybe I would do this just this one last time. I couldn't believe I was saying this, but bottoming really wasn't that bad. Sure, it hurt like hell, but after a while, a long while, it started to become enjoyable…

Damn it!

Sasuke's lips were still on mine as he pulled my jeans off. I just laid there and thanked my lucky stars that Sasuke was addicted to kissing. I sighed as he moved down to my shoulders. Man, this was not fair. I should not like this. I turned my head to the side when I felt the bastard's tongue on my right nipple. I squinted before letting another moan. Hmm, I never noticed there was a clock in the room…

Three twenty-five…

Three twenty-five!

Oh, crap!

The flight!

I completely forgot about the flight that was going to take me back home and far away from this place. My eyes widened in horror. I started to panic and pushed the bastard aside. Ignoring the string of insults from Sasuke, I quickly put my clothes on, cursing as I tripped over my jeans. Damn it, I was late. Okay, Naruto, calm down. You can always buy a new ticket and-

Oh wait, I didn't have enough money! Well, that was fine. I could just beg Ino on my hands and knees to lend me some assistance. I was sure she wouldn't mind…I think. Oh, maybe I could just ask Megumi- no, she would make up some excuse about how she needed to save her money for her kids then tease me about how stupid I was. Older sisters were annoying; not as much as bastards, but they were close enough.

Speaking of the bastard, he frowned as he watched me frantically get myself together. You know, it would have been nice if the bastard had enough courtesy to help me out. I threw a pillow at the bastard. What? It was the closest thing. "Are you satisfied now? I just missed my flight."

Sasuke casually stepped aside and watched the pillow hit the wall. He glanced and pointed at the clock. "Actually, you didn't. It's only three thirty."

"So?" I shouted. "I can't make it to LaGuardia in fifteen minutes!"

The bastard, being the bastard he was, shrugged. That was it. He just shrugged. No sorry about being the main reason why I was still stuck in this damn city. No, he just shrugged.

Damn bastard.

"You owe me three hundred bucks!"

"You broke my lamp that cost four thousand dollars," Sasuke had the nerve to apply. I think he liked pissing me off. It was like he had nothing else to do but get me angry and try to convince me to have sex with him. The bastard scoffed, picked up his shirt, and put it on. I loved how he was paying me no mind- not.

"I offered to pay!" I shouted back. Seriously, I did! It wasn't my fault that Sasuke told me that I didn't have to pay for anything. Maybe if he wasn't too busy trying to find a way into my pants he would have noticed that he was making a big mistake.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow then rolled his eyes. He muttered something about me being a moron, but I chose to ignore it, for this one time. He better not think that he could get away with insulting my intelligence the next time.

"I hate you," I spat, sticking my tongue out. I didn't care if this was childish, the bastard deserved it. He got me into this mess. I was supposed to be waiting at the airport terminal, _not_ here.

"Then why are you still here?"

The bastard had a point.

I hated when he made me feel dumb.

And, contrary to what everyone claimed, I was not dumb-

I just did things without putting too much thought into them.

"Because…"

"Hn."

"Don't you dare 'hn' me!"

So what do we do now? There was no hope for me catching the plane, and I completely just killed the moment –so Sasuke's seducing plan couldn't continue for the time being. I was sure that Sasuke was planning some new scheme, but have no fear. I wasn't going to fall for it next time. I had my eyes on the bastard.

"You're such a dumb ass. I don't know what I see in you."

"The feeling is mutual!"

I nearly choked. Wait, did Sasuke just admitted that he liked me? By the extremely, extremely, light blush on the bastard's face, I think he did. I looked away. Okay, this was getting awkward. What should I say? I didn't know, and even though it backfired plenty of times, I always knew what to say. The bastard remained silent; he most definitely realized what he just said.

"Uh, so you like me?"

If I was near a wall right now, I would have smacked my head against it. For once, the bastard didn't insult me. He simply crossed his arms. He refused to look at me, and instead found interest in the window. A few moments passed before Sasuke stopped having a staring contest with the curtains. He slowly approached me, and cupped my face with his hands. He caressed my cheeks with his thumbs and looked straight into my eyes –his eyes holding so many emotions, I couldn't figure out what was truly going through his mind. I blinked. He did nothing.

"Stay."

"What?"

Sasuke removed his hands from my face and said in a low voice, "I want you to stay."

I blinked again.

I got a feeling he did when the bastard jumped on me when I was about to leave. Man, was it possible for him to do something the normal way? But then again, it was nice to have the bastard say this instead of expressing it in his own creepy way.

"Wait, a second," I frowned. Was the bastard bi-polar? First he wanted me to stay, then he didn't and now he did? Couldn't he make up his mind? I removed Sasuke's hands from my face. "You said you wouldn't care if I left!"

"You said you hated having sex with me…" He said, rolling his eyes and looking down at a certain happy body part that was still happy. "But that didn't mean it was true."

I looked down.

Damn.

"That's not the same!"

Sasuke crossed his arms and scowled. He looked like he was going to throw a fit. "And how is that not the same?"

"Because it's not."

"You're stupidity amazes me."

"Well… you're an asshole!"

Okay, this wasn't going anywhere. If all we were going to do was argue over something stupid, I should have just left for Queens and forgot about the bastard. You know what? I was going to be the responsible person and get some answers. I might as well; it wasn't like I had a plane to catch.

I raised my hand up before the bastard could insult me again. "I like you and I'm pretty sure you like me so instead of beating around the bush and giving everyone, including ourselves, hell, why don't we-"

Sasuke's expression was unreadable but it soon turned into a smirk. He had an obsession with smirking. Seriously, was there a reason he was always smug about everything?

"Are you implying that you are thinking about staying here?"

What- no! I was going back to Utah as soon as possible and as soon as I got money for the flight. I could feel my face changing colors. "N-no, that wasn't what I was trying to say-!"

That really wasn't what I was trying to say!

I think.

"Of course not."

I knew the bastard knew I was unsure of myself. I could tell by smug look on his face. If I wasn't so confused from trying to think about how I could get out of his mess, I would have punched him.

"Anyway, what I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," I ignored Sasuke's hn, "Was…uh…" I groaned and threw my hands up in the air; I wanted to look dramatic. "Are you really serious about my staying here?"

"You initiated a fight with me and you are not in jail or in a middle of a massive lawsuit," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes a couple of times. I was shocked that the bastard's eyes didn't hurt. "That should be an indication of something."

I just stared at him and gulped. "But I mean, do you think this is going too fast? We've only known each other for about a week."

"I didn't ask you to live with me, moron. Just stay in New York." He shook his head as if he was disappointed with me, and sighed. He began to look sort of uncomfortable. Before I could ask him if he was okay, he continued/ "Look, I like you… a lot. I don't know why, but I do. I don't want you to go back to Utah, or wherever you were supposed to go to. It's just that simple. I'm not asking you to be my," he paused. "Boyfriend…" his voice dropped to a whisper, "Not that I would mind…"

My jaw dropped. Oh my god. I couldn't believe what I was hearing –I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of the bastard's mouth. I took some deep breaths so I wouldn't faint or something. Damn, I wasn't expecting this. "Sasuke, I can't…"

It wasn't that I didn't want to… be with the bastard, but this was all going too fast. I meant how could I leave my life that I was so used to for a guy I had known for a week and met under the most… uh… not so normal circumstances? Wasn't that a bit extreme? The bastard didn't think so but, then again, he was _not_ normal, so that was expected.

Okay, fine damn it. I'll stay..." I scowled at Sasuke's triumphant face. "Until the end of the seminar, that is," I continued before the bastard could open his mouth. "I mean, I can't just stay here and not come back, my parents would kill me. So, I'm going to go back home, and explain everything so my parents won't think that you have brainwashed me or something, then soon after that, I will, uh, come right back here but not _here_ because like you said, I'm not living with you."

"I can deal with that."

Wow, the bastard was actually agreeing with me? What has the world come to? And he said a sentence without insulting me in any way.

I rubbed my forehead with some hope that my sanity would come back and tell me that I was out of my mind. It didn't work. "I cannot believe I'm actually agreeing to this. Look, if we are going to do whatever we are doing, we're going to do it right. I'm not going to travel across the country for something um, not right. That means no pushing me into random closets because you're horny, or kissing me in front of everyone for some stupid reason. If you want to hook-up you ask me. Do you know that word? Ask. Got it?"

What was I getting myself into?

Sasuke just glared at me.

If you hadn't noticed, that was a yes.


	14. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

"I have to say this sandwich is fucking amazing,"

She couldn't be-

I stared at Ino as she wolfed down half of her abnormally large sandwich. I had never seen Ino eat this much in my life. She literally had a feast in front of her; she order two sandwiches, three burgers and three milkshakes- in all different flavors. Stupid me thought she ordered this much food to share with me but when I reached for one of the burgers, she _growled_ at me. Seriously, my therapist growled at me. Needless to say, I was hamburgerless. Unlike Ino, I wasn't that hungry so I settled for a bowl of chicken noodle soup- this place had the nerve not to serve ramen- and a piece of apple pie.

Ino should consider competing in a food eating contest.

I continued to gape at her she continued to eat- no shove down- her food. I could have sworn Ino was on a low-carb, no meat and no-sugar diet. Now, now here she was eating a Reuben sandwich that continued everything she should not be eating. I watched Ino with astonishment. It was obvious her diet was not working.

Ino did not notice my shock. She finished her sandwich. She pretty much chugged down most of her chocolate shake, gave me a wide, satisfied smile and wiped her mouth with a napkin. She managed to do all of this without making any mess.

"We should definitely come here more often."

I continued staring at the giddy woman in front of me. I had never seen her this happy about food- it was like she had discovered the amazedness that was ramen- which much to my horror, she still refused to eat. I mean, come on, it was ramen, the most amazing food on earth. How could she not try ramen at least once? Uh...never mind about that. I would save the ramen talk for later and focus on finding out if Ino was losing her mind or not. I was starting to become worried about my friend.

"Ino, not sound mean or anything but- are you...okay?"

Ino happily nodded and took a sip of her vanilla milkshake. She called the waiter over, gave him her empty sandwich plate and asked for another burger. Damn, she was eating like she was in a famine for the past year. Ino must have now remembered my question because after she took a bit of hamburger number two, she looked at me as if I offended her. "Of course I'm okay! Can't a woman enjoy her food without people questioning her well-being?"

I sighed. I should have just kept my mouth shut. I should have remembered the fact that Ino got really touchy on topics about food. Wait- I wasn't here to watch Ino have a feast. I was here for a therapy session that I didn't want to attend; Ino should be watching me. I slightly frowned and drank some water. "Okay, Ino, we are here for a session. So let's get this started. I have two articles due tomorrow and I don't even know what I'm going to write about."

Ladies and gentlemen, procrastination was, is, and will always be a bitch.

Ino chuckled as she pushed her plates to the side. "You need to work on your procrastination. I'm sure your editor-in-chief would be grateful if you did so too."

Even though the job market here was more horrible than in Utah, according to Tsunade, I had a job now at a newspaper company as a journalist and I got the job all by myself- I know, just admit it. I was amazing. Apparently, my boss thought it was interesting that I was the adopted child of a famous pornographic writer turned pastor. I didn't even want to know how my boss knew about that but it didn't matter; I got a job and that was that mattered.

Ino took out her notepad and a pen from her purse. "Um, I thought this is a joint session. Where's Sasuke?"

"Sasuke had to go to some meeting back at the hotel so he won't be here for another hour."

Great, this meant I was stuck with Ino for a whole hour. Damn it, I knew I should have stayed at work longer. Now don't get me wrong, I liked Ino but not when she was in her therapist- mode. Ino, believe it or not, had been less annoying and pushy these past couple of months. She stopped- for the most part- pestering me about being gay. I had to say that she was starting to actually care about my feelings. When she was just Ino, my friend, she was quite nice to hang out with. The last time we went hung out, she even offered to buy me ramen.

"Oh that's too bad," Ino replied. I couldn't tell if she was upset by the news or not. She had that evil smirk on her face. "I would have loved for him to be with us. Right here. Right now."

What the Hell? I, for my sanity and safety, did not ask Ino what she meant by that- and I was pretty sure I didn't want to know either.

I eyed one of her many drinks. I forgot she ordered a hot chocolate; she didn't look like she wanted it. So who I was to let her waste a perfectly good drink?

"Do you still want your hot chocolate?"

Ino gave me a confused look, muttered under her breath and pushed the drink towards me. "I don't understand how you are not overweight. Your diet is atrocious. You live on junk food. You think ramen is God's gift to man. The fact that you are not dead amazes me."

That was exactly what the bastard always said he and Ino didn't know what they were talking about. There was nothing wrong with what I ate- ramen was very nutritious. It just didn't say so on the labels. "I eat very healthily thank you very much. Especially since the bastard is forcing me to eat vegetables."

I looked down at the chocolaty goodness and smiled before chugging it down. I didn't care if it was hot. It was good. Ino was right; we should come here more often. As far as I knew, this was the best hot chocolate I ever had in New York City.

"You don't know what you're missing."

Ino just rolled her eyes and watched me with disdain as I drank.

"Can you please explain to me why we are in a diner?"

Ino let out a small, nervous laugh- obviously, she found the entire thing hilarious. She reached over and patted my shoulders. She ignored my failed version of a glare- unfortunately, Sauske was the only person who could master the art of glaring and Tsunade too.

"I am hungry and we haven't been out to dinner for a long time. I think you guys would be more comfortable in this carefree setting."

"You don't even have a place to do therapy sessions..."

Ino frowned and took an angry bite of her sandwich. I think I hit a nerve. I knew she hated when I mentioned that. I didn't know what the big deal was. I didn't think it was that serious. "Don't do this to me, Naruto. I'm trying my best. The rent in this crazy city is insane and I don't see anything wrong with talking in the dinner. The food is good. The atmosphere is great and some of the waiters are really hot." She gave me a sly look. "Don't you agree?"

Not this again.

I frowned. I definitely knew what that crazy woman was implying and I was not going to fall for her trap.

"I don't know what you are talking about. How is this diner great? This place doesn't even have ramen. The waiter didn't even know what it was," I pointed out quite upset. How could a diner not have ramen? Everyone had to have ramen- it was a necessity. I couldn't understand how the owners of the diner lived with themselves.

Maybe my love for ramen was getting too obsessive.

Never mind.

Ino snorted and rolled her eyes; apparently she did not understand my sadness. "Naruto, I know this hard for you to believe but not every place has ramen. You need to do something about your ramen obsession. It's not healthy and no, I have no intentions on trying it so don't bother asking me again. Anyway, my parents are totally happy for me even if I don't have an office. In fact, they are going to visit me the week after next."

It wasn't too surprising that Ino decided to move to New York several months ago. She did the move because she believed that "New Yorkers have much more problems that people back in Utah and they need my help so they won't go crazy and go on a mass shooting spree"- those were her exact words. She moved in with Chouji who was staying the city for a next couple of months before he went to France.

By some luck of God, Ino was able to see about fifteen patients a week. Now of course she still didn't tell me how on earth she managed to pull this off but she promised that it was one hundred percent legal- you couldn't blame me for not believing her. Anyway, although she had a ton of people waiting for her advice, she still couldn't find a reasonable-priced office space for her office. And that was why she insisted that we have our little 'therapy' session in a diner.

Yes, a damn diner.

Why couldn't we just go to her place, or Sasuke's penthouse or somewhere where we weren't surrounded by fifty people? Seriously, who conducted a therapy session in a crowded diner? As one could imagine, Sasuke wasn't very happy about this arrangement but I promised to make it up to him if he agreed to cooperate.

She briefly frowned before taking a long sip of her shake. She looked like she wanted to change the subject. She put on a small smile and said in this un-Ino-like voice. "So how are you, Naruto?"

I sighed. That was a good question. I supposed I was fine. Oh, who was I kidding?

I was not fine. I was so screwed for tomorrow. It was six thirty right now and I had nothing done. I wouldn't be able to start the articles until I got home, and that was probably going to be around ten. I knew I should not have left them to the last minute. I honestly thought I had time- well, I did have time until Ino called and reminded me that I had to meet up with her. I didn't want to see her- no, I wanted to see Ino but under much different circumstances. But no, because Tsunade was super concerned over my state of mind- and me dating a guy- she insisted- more like forced- Ino to do monthly "checkups" on Sasuke and I. Of course, I completely objected to all of that because it was completely unfair. I was a grown man! I didn't need someone to check on me every month! Of course, Ino just remembered today that we hadn't done any of the checks up and that was why I was here.

And to make matters worse, I had to somehow make it up to the bastard for "forcing" him to join Ino and I tonight, and it couldn't be anything sexual because that was way too predictable.

Actually...

Never mind.

"I'm fine."

Ino narrowed her eyes. That meant she didn't believe me but thankfully, she didn't press the subject. "Anything new happening with your family? I heard about Megumi. I can't believe she is pregnant again. Won't that be her eighth child?"

Nothing much changed since that interesting church convention. Tsunade didn't take the news as well as I wished but she didn't disown me so that was a plus. She was still mad about me not having Sakura as my wife. Jiraiya claimed he knew it all along. Tsunade still hated Jiraiya. Jiraiya still feared for his life and now was living with his eighty something year old girlfriend. But apparently, not many people knew about the scandal because he was still a priest. Megumi was pregnant again. She promised everyone that this would be her last child but no one believed her. She also said the same thing when she was pregnant with her fourth and fifth child.

I was the official token "gay boy" in my town even after I told everyone that I mostly liked girls, which was absolutely true, thank you very much. I was not into checking out other men, except for Sasuke but he didn't count. The Hyuugas were laying low for some reason. I would have thought that they would be the first to declare a revolution and burn me at the stake- I knew this sounded crazy but the Hyuugas were crazy; they would do something like this.

Of course Tsunade still believed that Sakura and I were perfect for each other. I never bothered to tell her that Sakura was infatuated with my boyfriend, had no interest in me and was currently living with the man she cheated on me with. She wouldn't take the news very well. Speaking of Sakura, she was in the tri-state area. Sources said that she "missed" the bus ride back home with the other church members so she decided to just stay in New York. Lee, being Lee, was so distraught over the fact that the love of his life was on the other side of the country, took the first plane out of Utah to be with Sakura. They were currently residing in the suburbs.

"Sixth."

Ino shook her head. "God bless her. I couldn't imagine having that many kids." She shuddered then gasped, "And I cannot believe Kiba got Hinata pregnant," she said in disbelief before taking a bite of her sandwich. "Of all people..."

Yes, Kiba probably did one of the dumbest he had ever done- and that was a hard thing to accomplish. The Hyuugas-

Let's just say when Hiashi Hyuuga found out that Hinata, who was supposed to be engaged to me- now, I had no idea where this came from and my parents of course denied all and any involvement with this rumor- was pregnant with Kiba's child, he flipped. I mean, he lost his damn mind. I still couldn't believe that Kiba was still able walk. I was expecting Hiashi or Neji to break some bones.

Anyway, in an attempt to stay alive at least until the baby was born and stop Hiashi from killing him with his eyes, Kiba suggested that he and Hinata had a shot gun wedding. He promised me that this would help Hiashi stop hating him. I highly doubted that was going to happen but it was better than nothing.

"They have been dating for a while," I pointed out, trying to make the situation sound better. To tell you the truth, I couldn't believe he did either. Did Kiba want to be on Hiashi and Neji's death list? "Apparently, their relationship is getting really serious."

And people said that I didn't use my brain.

"Did Mr. Hyuuga even know that?"

I leaned back on the booth and frowned. I really felt bad for my friend. I didn't think he wanted any of this to happen. "Not until he found out that he was going to be a grandfather. I told the dumbass to tell him before the drama begins, but of course Kiba didn't listen to me."

Ino shook her head again. "That boy is going to get himself killed one day. When's the baby due?"

"Kiba was having too much of a panic attack to tell me."

Ino was going to reply but the waiter came to pick up some of the empty dishes. Ino smiled at him, muttered an apology for the mess and asked, "Water please?"

The waiter sighed, nodded and left.

Wow, that was the healthiest thing she ordered yet and she had the nerve to say that I was a horrible eater.

"What did Tsunade say?"

I shrugged as I began to play with my soup. "She went on a rant about how we young people ignore morality and how we all are going to go to Hell and burn for eternity because of our sinful ways."

"Typical Tsunade response," Ino giggled before taking a bit of what I believe was burger number three. I lost count a long time ago. I still didn't understand why she was pigging out like this. This was unlike Ino...oh. She must be suffering from a massive unhealthy food withdrawal. "This may be

a random question, but would you ever date women again?"

"Why type of question was that?" I didn't like how this conversation was going. Into was up to something- sinister and it would be too late before I found out what it was. I bet this was one of her schemes to make me admit that I was gay. Except I didn't know what about "I like girls and Sasuke" did she not understand. "And before you say anything- I'm going to say this: I am not gay."

I had to get that across.

And I wasn't in denial.

I liked girls and Sasuke.

Ino rolled her eyes and reached for her strawberry milkshake, "Are you we going to go through this again." She sighed when she realized that the answer was yes. "Fine. You are bisexual, happy? I was just asking." She began to eat her burger but then stopped mid-bite, swallowed the food and said in a way too loud voice, "Hey, your boy toy is here."

Why did she keep calling him that?

"He's not my boy toy," I snapped, quite annoyed as I looked towards the door. Yep, there he was, looking like he owned the place _as usual_. It was about damn time he showed up. I waved when Sasuke looked in my direction. He didn't look too happy as he walked towards the table with his bodyguards following. "He's my boyfriend. There's a difference."

Ino nearly choked on her milkshake and beamed at me. She seemed so proud and if it wasn't for the fact that Sasuke was approaching our table, she would have leaped over the table and tackle me with hugs. Ino beamed and said in her very excited, squeaky voice, "Oh my god- I just can't. You two are so cute!"

That woman had problems.

Was she really acting that way because I said Sasuke was my boyfriend? Sure this was the first time I actually said it- not my fault; the bastard never told about the status of our relationship. And the last time I asked if we were dating, Sasuke just called me a moron and went on his way- he really needed to stop answering my questions with moron and idiot. Wait, this was Sasuke I was talking about. He was never straightforward about anything. All I knew was that it was very complicated.

We had been "dating" for over a year now. I didn't even think we were going to last that long- no, not because I didn't like him but because we fought all the time. It was like we were some old married couple but worse.

Of course there were some people in the diner who instantly recognized Sasuke. The two giggling and blushing waitresses a few feet from us definitely did; it looked like they were arguing about who should approach the bastard first. There were some people across from us who looked like they wanted to ask him for an autograph- didn't know why- but their hopes were smashed when Sasuke gave them a death glare.

He really needed to be nicer to his fans.

Ino seemed to have calmed down from her fan girl tirade when Sasuke arrived. She ignored my annoyed look and gave him a warm smile. "Hello, Sasuke,"

Sasuke only acknowledge her with a nod and sat down next to me, after he glared the shit out of me. I didn't know what his problem was. I told him about the therapy before. Granted, that was this morning, but I still told him. I could have mentioned this a couple of hours ago, then again, that wouldn't be a good idea because he just wouldn't show up. Anyway, he shouldn't mad at me; I told him that I was going to make up to it him!

Juugo and Suigestu were sitting three tables in front of us, arguing extremely loudly about some college basketball game. Due to Sakura and the bastard's other very zealous fans, the two had to go everywhere Sasuke went. At least everywhere outside the hotel.

The waiter returned to our table with Ino's water. "Is there anything else?"

Sasuke briefly looked at the menu and he did not look impressed. Obviously, this was way too low for the high maintenance bastard; he pushed the menu aside and replied with a very expressionless voice, "I would like a salad. No dressing. The only things I would like the salad are lettuce, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar."

"Will that be all?"

"Yes."

The waiter nodded and left.

"Who gets a salad at a diner?" I asked, appalled. I knew this was way below Sasuke's standards but still. A salad? The only thing that did for me was make me want more real food. I shook my head. I would never understand that man.

Sasuke glared me yet again.

I returned the bastard's glare but only at a fraction of its intensity. I was just not designed to be able to glare right. My glares looked like one of those trying-to-be-scary-but-failing-horribly looks. "What? You still can't be mad at me."

Ino blinked.

Sasuke ignored me as he took off his jacket and put it neatly behind his chair. He scowled at me than at Ino but she was not going to let Sasuke's scowl scare her. Like me, she too was starting to become immune to Sasuke's behavior. "Is there a reason why we are having a therapy session in a two star diner?"

See? It wasn't just me who thought this was a weird place to do this in. Great minds think a lot. And yes, I did have a great mind; I just didn't want to show it, you know, just in case some weird brain snatcher was here.

Forget that I just said that.

I had a long day.

"Because it is a great restaurant and food makes everything better."

Sasuke snorted. He was definitely not impressed with Ino's explanation. He took a small bite of his salad; he refused to order anything else because the food didn't satisfy his version what good quality food was. Ungrateful bastard.

Ino wiped her mouth with her napkin and clapped her hands. This must mean that she was ready to start; about time. "Okay, enough stalling. Let's get this session started. It won't be too long- just think of this as a catch-up between friends even though I saw you a few weeks ago. Yes, let's get started."

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief.

Hold up. Ino was doing this session so Tsunade could figure out what was going on in my life- though I still didn't understand why she couldn't just ask me when we talked on the phone- so that meant that Ino was going to tell Tsunade everything. It was like spying but not as secretive.

I narrowed my eyes with suspicion. "Wait, you're going to tell Tsunade everything, aren't you?"

Ino shook her head before taking a sip of her strawberry milkshake. "I cannot do so even if I wanted to. Patient confidentiality laws. I'll give her a very, very broad and generalized account of your relationship. Don't worry; she won't find out about your love life and such. I know I have my moments, but I'm not _that_ bad."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and glared at me for the thousandth time.

Did he ever get tired of glaring?

Ino pushed some hair behind her hair. "I know you guys don't want to do this...trust me, I don't either. But don't think of this as a session, think of this as us talking to each other...as friends. And like I said before, I'm not going to tell Tsunade everything- I'm only doing this so I wouldn't hear my mother's mouth. And hear her complain."

Sasuke straightened up in his chair. He looked at me then at Ino. "So let me get this straight, Naruto's mother and your mother are forcing you to do this?"

"Uh, yes and no. I did really want to see you guys. We have been so busy the past few weeks..." Ino sighed. She slightly frowned. "This is the last time we're doing this whole therapy thing. I don't care what Tsunade or my mother or our friends and family back home says."

"What is up with your mother? Every single I turn around, she's complaining something. Damn, I thought Hiashi Hyuuga was bad. "

"I don't know. I think she is still mad at me for moving here. But there was nothing to do back home. I mean, I could have gone to Salt Lake City but that was like five hours ago. If I was going to do that, I might as well move to New York City- not that there was anything wrong with Salt Lake City. It's a wonderful city but it's not New York City."

"Did you tell her that?"'

"Of course I did. I don't get it. She constantly yells at me to do something with my life and when I do it, she yells at me even more."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He definitely did not want to be here and listen to Ino's drama. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe she misses you? And hated the fact that you moved to the east coast?" He turned to me and asked, "Can you tell your family and town to stay out of _our_ business?"

"Look, I'm sorry. You know how Tsunade is..."

When this was over, I going to give Tsunade a strongly worded phone call. She was in the other side of the country so I wouldn't have to worry about her trying to kill me for arguing with her. Yeah, so I was going to get on the phone and ask, in the most polite way possible, that she stopped meddling in my business and stop sending Ino to be her spy. I wasn't mad at Ino for doing this, Tsunade had convinced her mother to convinced/force Ino do to this. I didn't get it, they were twenty hours away and they still thought they could control our lives.

Ino laughed it off. "Oh don't worry about it. Like I said before, it's so nice to see the both of you."

"Likewise," I said, smiling.

Sasuke just scowled. He took out his phone and scowled even more- if that was possible. Scowling was his favorite thing to do besides glaring. "Moron, I have to let my brother in the penthouse. He lost the extra set of keys...again."

Typical Itachi.

"He could just use mine when we get back," I offered as I reached into my coat pocket.

Wait, where did they go? I swore I just had them!

Damn it!

I continued to pat my pockets in panic. I couldn't believe this was happening again. Why couldn't I keep my keys in one place? This was the twentieth time this happen this month. I frowned a bit; I think I might have left it on my desk at work. Well this was terrific.

"You lost the keys, didn't you?"

"No...I temporarily misplaced it. It's our room...somewhere." So that was a really bad, bad, explanation and Sasuke was not buying it. I flashed him a smile. "You know what? I am really, really sure that the keys are in our room."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and returned to eating his salad. I didn't really know if he believe my excuse or not, but I wasn't going to worry about that now. Especially since Ino had a goofy smile on her face... yeah, I think she was going crazy.

"Ino, are you-?"

"Oh yes, how could I forget? You two live together," she said and nodded very happily. I didn't know if I should be scared or not. When she nodded like that it meant something very, very embarrassing was going to come up. "When is the housewarming?"

Damn.

"Housewarming?" Sasuke asked very slowly most likely to hide his irritation. He folded his hands and quickly unfolded it. Yep, he was definitely not feeling the housewarming idea. "I don't remember hearing anything about a housewarming."

Ino raised an eyebrow then blinked. She glanced at the both of us. Yeah, she was confused as hell. "But, Naruto said that you two were going to have a housewarming. I told all of our friends about it."

Of course she did.

Why did Ino have to mention this? I told her not to say anything until I came up with a flawless plan. I had to find a way to persuade the bastard to have this little get together; he hated everything that had to do with meeting and hanging out with many people.

"Did he now?"

Oh God, here comes glare number one hundred and seventy-four. Or was it seventy-five?

This had to be a record.

I could get out of this; all I needed to do was play dumb.

"Housewarming?" I asked, faking my confusion. Hopefully Ino and Sasuke did not catch it, "Uh, I don't remember saying anything about a housewarming. Ino must be confusing me with someone else."

Glare number one hundred and seventy-six.

Number eight from Ino.

"Your lying skills are quite abominable."

"Oh shut your mouth. I'm trying!"

"So Sasuke, I take it that you are not open to the housewarming idea," Ino commented; the mean scowl from the bastard verified her answer. "I guess I take that as a no. Now Sasuke, I know that this is something that you are not used to, but I think I think it would be a great idea!" Ino exclaimed, quite excited. She began writing many things in her notepad. "Oh my god, can I plan it? Please?"

I had decided that I was not going to count glares anymore.

Ino continued on. "So how is it?"

"How is what?"

"Living with Sasuke."

So, I was living with the bastard, believe it or not. It wasn't as bad as it sounded. I got used to his antics. I had been living with him for the past three months. But I wanted to mention that contrary to what Sasuke said, this was not my fault. This wasn't my idea; it was his. I used to live in an apartment building in Queens, but when Sauske noticed a mouse in the closet during one of our- erm, meetings, he forced me to move in with him. Contrary to what the bastard claimed, I didn't know about the roaches. The closet was perfectly fine and rodentless that morning.

Much to Sasuke's chagrin, I decided to pay for half of everything- except for the penthouse; the cost of that place had to be half my salary. Of course Sasuke called me an idiot and we got into a big fight but I didn't care. I wasn't going to get spoiled. I had a decent paying job now; I could at least pay for the food.

"Well, I do miss my apartment in Queens..." I answer as Ino scoffed and rolled her eyes. But it was true. I did miss it. It was cheap. It was cozy and minus the minor mouse problem that I didn't know about until the bastard noticed, it was nice. "Leave me alone, it was a nice place."

Sasuke just gave me a look of disapproval.

"You lived in a rodent-infested apartment. How could you say that your old apartment was a nice place?"

I threw my hands up and pouted. I didn't know about the rodent problem. I really didn't know. It seemed that the s only came out when it was dark and the last time I checked, I didn't have night vision. "How was I supposed to know? The landlord said he dealt with the infestation years ago!"

Ino shook her head. I didn't think she believed my story, a story that was one hundred percent true. She never believed me when I was telling the truth. "You cannot be that stupid."

"Stop insulting my intelligence. I get enough of that from the bastard."

Sasuke chuckled.

Did that just happened?

Ino, who was also in a state of shock, gave us a nervous smile. She too could not believe the noise that came out of the bastard's mouth. Sasuke was not supposed to laugh; that was not a part of his genetic makeup.

Ino folded her hands and gave us another smile, this one was more happy than nervous, "Okay, how are the living arrangements? I have to admit that I am quite shock that you two haven't killed each other yet."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"The thought has crossed my mind numerous times," Sasuke replied before pushing his now empty salad bowl aside. He reached for his water. "The moron is obnoxious and unnaturally loud; I sometimes feel sorry for my neighbors and my ear drums. He also does not understand the concept of being neat."

First of all, that was a lie. I was neat. Did you know how much neatness-adjusting I had to do when I moved in with a bastard? It was not my fault that Sasuke was an insane neat freak. He needed everything to be clean and perfect and in order. Like that one time last month when he had a panic attack because I forgot to pick up my shirt and jacket from the bathroom floor- which was not my fault. It was Sasuke's who thought it was a good idea to start groping me out of nowhere.

"And he almost burned down my penthouse."

Okay, so that was not a lie...

"That was one time. One time! And it wasn't my fault."

It really wasn't. How was I supposed to know that the toaster was this super complicated contraption? The bastard needed to start buying things that were easy to use.

"Of course it wasn't. The toaster miraculously set itself on fire."

For someone who hated sarcasm, Sasuke was sure using it a lot and I didn't appreciate this. Not one bit.

"Moving on..." Ino gave us a triumphant smile/ "But don't worry about the housewarming. I have everything under control. One of my patients is a top-rated party planner. I may ask her for her expertise. And we will have this housewarming, whether you two like it or not."

Yeah, the bastard was not definitely going to take this well. I stuck my tongue out at her. I didn't care if that was childish. She deserved it. "I hate you."

"How many times are you going to say that?" Ino asked, laughing/ "After a while, it's going to lose its meaning."

"Well then, fuck you."

Sasuke elbowed me hard before saying in a very irritated voice. "Are we done yet? I have more pressing matters to deal with." He gave me a wide smirk and squeezed my thigh. How could Ino not see that he was groping me?

Ino looked concerned for my wellbeing but I was sure it was for another reason. "Naruto, are you...okay?"

"He's fine." Sasuke said in his usual, lifeless voice. Except his usual, lifeless voice, didn't sound so usual and lifeless. Unfortunately, I was the only one who would notice this.

Shit.

He seriously needed to stop doing this!

Ino, who was clueless about Sasuke's intentions and actions, completely ignored anything we said. She wrote some more things in her notepad. "So Sasuke, how would you describe Naruto?"

Sasuke slowly raised an eyebrow. As you could see, he hated when people asked him questions about me. I didn't know why. He should be more open to talking about how amazing I was. "He's annoying, idiotic and, annoying. Of course Itachi thinks that this is just what I need. Someone who is the complete opposite of me- whatever that means..."

I would probably never know why Sasuke didn't like Itachi. I met him before on several occasions; sure he was crazy- the entire Uchiha family was crazy- but he wasn't as bad as the bastard made him to be. He was a cool dude, and he had a great sense of humor, unlike the bastard.

"And you're an ass!" I rolled my eyes. "And I have always been annoying. That hasn't stopped you before!"

Ino looked confused; this was an extremely rare moment. She always wanted to look like she was aware of what was going on when if she didn't have a clue. She raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat. "Sasuke, if Naruto is annoying and idiotic as you claim, then why do you still deal with him?"

Ino, who was clueless about Sasuke's intentions and actions, completely ignored anything we said. She wrote some more things in her notepad. "So Sasuke, how would you describe Naruto?"

Sasuke slowly raised an eyebrow. As you could see, he hated when people asked him questions about me. I didn't know why. He should be more open to talking about how amazing I was. "He's annoying, idiotic and, annoying. Of course Itachi thinks that this is just what I need. Someone who is the complete opposite of me- whatever that means..."

I would probably never know why Sasuke didn't like Itachi. I met him before on several occasions; sure he was crazy- the entire Uchiha family was crazy- but he wasn't as bad as the bastard made him to be. He was a cool dude, and he had a great sense of humor, unlike the bastard.

"And you're an ass!" I rolled my eyes. "And I have always been annoying. That hasn't stopped you before!"

Ino looked confused; this was an extremely rare moment. She always wanted to look like she was aware of what was going on when if she didn't have a clue. She raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat. "Sasuke, if Naruto is annoying and idiotic as you claim, then why do you still deal with him?"

I fought the urge to slam my head on the table. She didn't ask that, right? I glanced at the bastard who was giving Ino a dirty look and- actually, Ino had a point- not including the annoying and idiotic part. Just because I did things without thinking first didn't mean I was an idiot. I knew he liked he- he just had a very odd way of showing it. Then again, he was a very odd guy.

"I am not entitled to answer that question."

Ino was not accepting that answer but I did. I wasn't offended that he did not say anything. Sasuke did not talk about his feelings. That just wasn't him. Oh god, if he came one day to a place like this with lots a people, with chocolate and flowers and profess his love for me, and actually be romantic, I would probably drag him to the nearest hospital.

That was something I definitely had to get used to. See, the relationships with Sakura and Sasuke were completely different. Sakura loved being romantic. Sasuke did not, at least, the conventional way of being romantic- not that I was complaining. After a while, Sakura's fairytale romance was getting a tad overbearing. I mean, I could barely remember my name sometimes, how was I supposed to remember seven week anniversaries?

Yes, Sakura and I had seven week anniversaries. Apparently, it was suppose bring us together and make us a better couple except that it backfired horribly. These anniversaries tended to turn into epic fights because I kept on forgetting about them.

Ino pouted and pleaded with the bastard though her pleas were going to be all in vain. "Oh come on, please? It's just a simple question."

Sasuke's glare intensified.

Ino should let this go. I didn't need Sasuke to tell Ino his feelings to impress me or whatever. I knew he liked me; he told me so countless times. Of course, he didn't exactly _say_ those words, but it didn't matter.

Sasuke's glare intensified.

Ino should let this go. I didn't need Sasuke to tell Ino his feelings to impress me or whatever. I knew he liked me; he told me so countless times. Of course, he didn't exactly say those words but it didn't matter.

And I supposed I liked him too even if he was a neat freak, odd and a bastard. I think once you passed through his asshole-like barriers, you would he wasn't really that bad. He had his moments. You know, very nice moments that sometimes did not look too nice for people who didn't know the type of person Sasuke was.

Sasuke frowned a bit. Yeah, he was not too pleased about this topic. I didn't blame him but it was so funny to see him embarrassed like that...because Sasuke didn't become embarrassed. That was considered blasphemous in his family. He crossed his arms and frowned even more. "He is a moron, but he is my moron."

"Aww, that's the most romantic thing you've ever said to me."

And I wasn't even joking.

"Don't get used to it." He turned his attention to Ino who was grinning like a crazed-fan girl. She must have thought this was the closest to a confession she would ever witness. "Can we get off this topic, now?"

"Fine by me." She still had that infuriating smile on her face. "Okay, we're switching topics!'

"Thank you, Ino,"

Ino, not noticing my sarcasm, smiled and leaned in closer to Sasuke and me. Her mouth slowly turned into a wide smirk. "So I saw Sakura earlier this morning on the way to here."

I frowned. Why was she talking about her? I didn't care if Ino saw her or not. I just wanted this session to end.

"And...?" the bastard said in a bored voice. Except the bored voice sounded more like an angry bored voice...a very angry bored voice. Typical bastard. I didn't know why he hated Sakura so much. Yes, she might be a bit deranged and clingy and was convinced that Sasuke was her soul mate.

Ino didn't pay attention to Sasuke. "I saw her at Grand Central Station. Apparently, she got some job in the Lower East Side as a publicist or something. Anyway, while I was walking out of the bathroom, she saw me. She looked very happy to see me though I had no clue why. Yeah, so Sakura told me to tell you that she was sorry for everything including the incident at the hotel. She wanted to know if you wanted to get back together with her."

Sasuke, for the second time, laughed. I gave him a nervous glance- this never happened before. Yes, this might have been a small laugh... b- but it was scary as hell when he did it the first time and now he did it again! There was something wrong with him- this was no other explanation!

Wait a second- Sakura wanted us to get back together? I thought she hated me for "stealing" her Sasuke? What the hell was going on? I felt a conspiracy going on...

"What the hell?"

"That's what I said!"

"As interesting as this sounds, I would appreciate if we did not talk about the moron's ex-girlfriend for the remainder of our time here."

The bastard seriously needed to stop calling me moron like it was my real name. I knew I had some slow moments but that did not give him a right to call me names even if I did the same thing. Ugh, never mind. "My name is Naruto, you bastard."

As expected, my loving boyfriend ignored me.

Ino was not going to give the subject up. She loved to bash the hell out of Sakura and talk about how she messed up with the relationship with me and how she was simply using Lee to get to Sasuke... though she might be onto something with that/ "I still don't understand what you saw in her."

"Oh come on, she's not that bad. Sure she cheated on me and has a weird obsession with the bastard- but that doesn't make her a bad person. She's just crazy... in love."

Sasuke shot me one of her infamous death glares

"...or...not..."

Ino let out a small laugh. "Anyway, apparently, the news about your little fallout with Sakura and her love for Sasuke and you dating him has spread across our little congregation back home. And before you ask, I didn't say anything. My mom found out from Anko. Yeah, she was pretty upset. She kept saying that Sakura and you should still get married. I'm pretty sure the entire town knows. You know how it is; rumors spread like wildfire there."

Great. Just great.

Anko needed to learn how to keep her damn mouth shut. My entire town already knew about Sasuke; they didn't need to know what this seriously fucked up love triangle. Sorry for my language, but this was a fucked up love triangle. My ex-girlfriend was love with my boyfriend who wouldn't want anything more than to have her not exist. Oh yeah, and now she wanted to "get back" with me- I bet this was a part of her scheme to win Sasuke though I didn't know how that was going to work...

Oh and how could I forget, Tsunade still wanted me to marry Sakura.

Ino shrugged and reached for her chocolate shake. "Well, you don't really have to worry about Sakura bothering the both of you- since you know, you do have that restraining order on her," she noticed the annoyed expression on Sasuke's face and the guilty one on mine. She narrowed her eyes and said in an accusing voice. "You did put that order on her...right?"

We were supposed to put a-?

_Oh shit._

Ino did not take the silence well; she crossed her arms and pouting. "I thought you guys were going to do that; you know, after what happened last time?"

I didn't know if I should answer that or not. No, I was going to remain silent just so I wouldn't say anything...stupid.

Sasuke frowned a bit- of course this wasn't a real frown because Sasuke didn't do things like that in public-apparently it was something about being an Uchiha. "The moron would not let me put a restraining order on Sakura. He claimed it was too inhumane- I was so stunned that he knew what the word meant that I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"Shut up!"

You would think that the bastard would stop insulting me since we were together. But no, of course he didn't. It was verbal abuse; I tell you, verbal abuse except for the fact that I, too, was guilty for the same crime. I was starting the think that the insults were slowly not becoming insults. I mean, after a while, bastard and moron were losing their meanings.

"Inside voices, please. You're attracting too much unwanted attention to me." Ino laughed at my pout and my failed attempt glare. "Okay, okay, forget about Sakura. It seems that she is a very touchy subject."

"Like Hell she is!"

Sasuke was still sending me glares and "you owe me" looks every ten seconds, while rubbing my thigh. Damn it, now I really had to make it up to him. This was really not fair. It really wasn't.

Ingo laughed wholeheartedly. She was enjoying this session much more than I wanted. Wasn't she supposed to look bored and nod every ten seconds to make her look like she was paying attention when she really wasn't? I knew she did that with a few of her patients- but in her defense, they were boring and really did not need to see anyone.

"You two are funny," my therapist said as she wrote more things in her notepad. I often wondered what she wrote about- then again, I didn't think I wanted to know. Knowing her, she was writing things that would scar me for life. "Moving on...so, how is your relationship going?"

Sasuke and I exchanged looks.

"Oh come on, it's not a hard question. Just say if your relationship is going well or not. Wait, are you two even officially dating?"

"I don't know Ino," I turned to Sasuke and gave him an accusing look. I got a scowl in return, "Why don't you ask the bastard? Because I don't even know myself."

"Idiot."

"Asshole."

Ino bit her lip and had that confused look on her face again. "Uh..." she began then paused to clear her throat. "So, is that a yes or a no?"

"I do not see the need to define a relationship with labels."

I deeply frowned. Of course this would be Sasuke's answer. Why couldn't things ever be simple with him? All Ino and I wanted to know was where this relationship stood. That was all. My eyes narrowed and I said, in the nicest, but most annoyed voice I could make. "Are we going out or not?"

"Hn. Fine."

"Thank you," I said, annoyed and relieved. So yeah, I wished he could have verified this in a much more romantic way, but this was Sasuke. I couldn't expect him to do things the normal way. I was so happy that was out of the way. I was weird not knowing where I stood with the bastard.

"As of right now, the bastard and I are officially dating."

Hold up, I think there was something going with the bastard. He was never this open with anyone. He never talked much about his private life and look at him now. He was actually answering Ino's questions. I thought he said that he was not going to do this. Maybe the waiter spiked Sasuke's water. Yeah, that had to be to the only explanation.

Ino just blinked a few times before taking a sip of her vanilla shake- I was getting so confused with all of the shakes. She needed to finish one already. I knew what she was thinking: Sasuke and I were crazy. I didn't blame her; the chances of Sasuke and I being in a normal, drama-free relationship was practically zero. No that it was a bad thing, 'cause normal was boring. And I hated boring.

"Well, now that we got that figured out... um, next topic."

"How long until this session ends?" Sasuke asked, annoyed as usual. He crossed his arms and scowled. And of course he gave me yet another glare. Seriously, he needed to stop glaring at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and took a bite of my apple pie.

"Do not worry. We are almost done. I have to be somewhere at nine."

"Where are you going?" I asked.

Ino's face broke into a wide smile. "Shikamaru's taking out me out somewhere."

"God bless him."

Ino and Sasuke both glared at me.

"Enough about me," Ino gave us a menacing smirk. She must be up to something and I knew I was going to regret it. She took a sip of her water while giving me a suggestive look. I began to panic. Sasuke looked unfazed and bored. At least he wasn't glaring at me now. There was only so much glaring I could take.

"How is your sex life?"

I glared at the blond woman in front of me. I should have known she was going to ask that question. It was only a matter of time. I didn't know my... sex life... was not any of her business. I never asked her about her...um... imitate life with Shikamaru- he was one of the employees at the Uchiha hotel; you know the one with the pineapple head. "You can't be serious..."

"I do not see how any of this is your business."

"I agree!"

"Sex is a very important aspect in a relationship," Ino pointed out. I could tell she was thinking really hard to justify herself, "I am trained to ask these questions. Despite what you both think, I am not going this for my own amusement. I am doing this to help you and make sure that you have a healthy sex life."

I had to keep myself from laughing. Ino had got to be kidding me. The crying babies at the other side of the diner knew she was lying. Or maybe she was only telling part of the truth. God, Ino and Karin needed to be friends. Seriously, they were the same person but with different color hair. They were always trying to butt in Sasuke and my business. Actually, no, that would be a very, very, very bad idea. They would wreak havoc. And the bastard would never forgive me for it.

"Fine," I said, even though I thought Ino's explanation was really, really bad. But I wanted to get this over with. "Sasuke Uchiha is addicted to sex."

Yeah, I said it!

As expected, I received the harshest glare I have ever gotten from the bastard. Okay, so maybe I should

have not said that out loud. But I was serious. It was the truth. He had an addiction. I was sure there was some support group for this. I mean, there was one for everything else. Okay, he wasn't _that_ bad, but he was bad enough.

Ino choked on her chocolate milkshake. She quickly wrapped her mouth with her name and her evil, menacing smile returned in full force. She was definitely enjoying this. God, she was such a pervert. I didn't see how could get excited about this. She was sick, I tell, sick.

"Please, do explain."

"I don't want to."

"Hn," Sasuke surprisingly said. I thought he was going to defend me even though I really didn't deserve it. "I have to side with Ino on this one. Yes, moron, please explain how I have this supposed sex addiction."

I narrowed my eyes at the bastard. Like hell was I going to talk about this. Ino was never going to let it down and knowing her, she was going to tell Chouji or even worse, Megumi. I shuddered at the thought; that was last thing I needed.

"The bastard can't keep his damn hands to himself if his life depended on it. Do you know how many times he dragged me to some secluded place to molest me?" I said, distressed. I chose to ignore Sasuke who was rolling his eyes and muttering "idiot" under his breath. He was only doing this because he knew what I was saying was true, "I cannot even tell you how many boxes of condoms we have used in the past month. He ass constantly hurts and it's all the bastard's fault and his damn libido."

Ino gulped and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She was trying to appear like she was a professional but I could tell from her eyes that she was extremely amused. She tried to hide it by eating, but it was not working. At all. She pushed her plate of fries away and asked in her therapist voice. "Sasuke, is there anything you want to say about these... accusations?"

"Contrary to what the moron said, I do not have a sex addiction. I just enjoy it. I do not see a crime in that. It is a huge stress reliever... even if it is with the moron." He sent me a glare but this time it wasn't a death glare. Oh no, it was much, much worse. "And Naruto, you should not even be talking..." Sasuke said with a smirk, "You know that you are just as bad as me when it comes to sex."

First of all, I just wanted to say that I was not addicted to sex unlike Sasuke. Sex...um... it was nice. Enjoyable even. And I supposed Sasuke was right about it being a stress reliever- though I wasn't going to admit it because that would only make the bastard more arrogant than he already was. Anyway, just because I liked doing it did not mean I was just like the bastard. He was obsessed with it and one of these days I was going to prove it.

Ino spoke up before I could even defend myself, "So you two appear to have a very active sex life. About how many times a week do you guys engaged in... intimate physical activities?"

"If the bastard had his way, it would be every damn day."

I needed to find a way to filter everything I said. It would make the world a better place and reduce the daily number of glares I received from the bastard. Sasuke's directed his glare to Ino, who was smiling like crazy. She was enjoying this way too much. He crossed his arms and frowned. "I am not addicted to sex. And no, we do not have sex every day; it is not my fault that the idiot is easy to seduce."

My jaw dropped.

This brought embarrassment to another level.

"It's not my fault that he's good at giving blow jobs."

Did I say that out loud?

This was why I needed to think before I spoke. The table in front of us gave me shocked faces before returning to whatever they were doing,

"Uh... definitely did not mean to say that out loud."

Sasuke just smirked.

Ino covered her nose with her hand; wait, was her nose bleeding? I quickly tossed her my napkin. She muttered a thanks before wiping her nose. Sasuke looked completely unconcerned; he simply took another bite of my unfinished apple that I completely forgot about. Wait, I thought he hated sweets?

I gave up trying to understand Sasuke.

Ino seemed to feel better. She put her napkin on top of her finished food and pushed the plate away from sight. She began writing things in her notepad probably about how insane Sasuke I were. I wouldn't be surprised. She checked her watch and sighed. "We have ten more minutes to go. I have finally came up with your prognosis," she continued before I could question her. Seriously, what the hell did prognosis mean? Was this some weird psychological l thing that I didn't care about? Maybe I shouldn't ask that; I wasn't in the mood to be called an idiot. "Naruto, you were going through the five stages of acceptance-"

Sasuke, being the perfectionist bastard he was, had to cut in, "I thought it is called the five stages of grief?"

Ino narrowed her eyes and slightly pouted. She hated being corrected especially if the person who was doing the correcting was Sasuke. It was like a clash of two overgrown egos. She brushed off Sasuke's question. "Same thing. The difference is the cause."

Was it bad that I didn't know what was going on?

"Okay, what the hell are you talking about?"

Sasuke shook his head.

Ino seemed very eager to answer, "The stages of acceptance come from the stages of grief. The stages of grief are five stages one goes through during a time of emotional crisis. The person experiences grief and eventually, he or she accepts what has happened and moves on. The stages of acceptance is pretty much the same thing, but the cause was not grief, it was other new and unexpected experiences... like for instance, your relationship with Sasuke. You see, first you were in denial, then you experienced anger- and don't say you didn't because you definitely did- then you went into your bargaining phase and finally," She gave me a brilliant smile. " You have passed the acceptance stage."

"...uh, so what does this mean?"

"Moron," was the last thing the bastard said before pulling me into a kiss.

_Oh_.

**THE END**


End file.
